Harry Potter and the New Beginning
by aerts14
Summary: This story follows the relationships of Harry/Ginny, and Ron/Hermione. Just after the Battle of Hogwarts. Goes beyond the Epilogue, but with small gaps here and there. Multiple Points of Views (POV) - mainly Harry, Ginny, Ron, or Hermione. Occasional chapter is in someone else's. Follows the lives of the Weasley/Potter family. Enjoy.
1. The Dark Lord Passing

**Author's Note: This is the Prologue to the story - and it is very short - much shorter than the future chapters. I will say right now that I don't own any of the characters or settings that you could find in the seven books created by J.K. Rowling. I am doing this out of interest - and to share what I think happens after the Battle with readers. This is completely NON-PROFITABLE. Please enjoy the story!**

_**Cameron Aerts - Author**_

_**Outside of London Ontario**_

**_2014_**

Chapter One

**_The Dark Lord Passing _**

_"Where am I" _Lord Voldemort thought. All he could remember was the boy..._the boy_. The one who could've ruined everything. The same thought kept returning to him, 'where am I'. There was green mist around him, and he felt as though he was floating along through the air. Could this be The Cave? But why on earth would he return there? Didn't the worthless, talentless boy destroyed the locket he hid here? Or did he?

Or was he in Albania again? That was where he went when the boy rid him of his powers sixteen years ago. He was sure that his _Avada Kedavra _curse had rebounded on him, _again_. But was he still alive? He looked around again, and made his decision: his was neither in Albania, or the Cave. He was, in what he thought, was nothingness. _So he was dead_. But how is that possible? Wasn't it he, Lord Voldemort, who had travelled further than any other on the road to become immortal?

And the Elder Wand. Why had it failed him? Was it not him who kill Severus Snape, the man who killed the previous owner? But then, he did remember hearing the boy say something about him being the true master of the wand. But how could that be possible? Before he could pursue these thoughts, however, he heard a voice. A very familiar voice that belonged to a person he so hated.

"Tom, Marvolo, Riddle", said Albus Dumbledore. He came out of the dense fog, wearing his midnight-blue robes.

"What are you doing here?" Voldemort hissed at him.

"I think we both know the answer to that Tom", said Dumbledore gently.

"You are here to tell me that I'm dead; aren't you", said Voldemort.

"Yes…and no", Dumbledore replied slowly. Dumbledore didn't drop his gaze on Voldemort, while Voldemort was still looking around.

"Why, Tom", said Dumbledore, "Why did you do all those acts of evil you have done".

"There is no good and evil, Dumbledore", Voldemort replied, "There is only power, and those too weak to seek it".

"And that, I think, is where you went wrong in your life", Dumbledore said calmly. "You have always underestimated the power of house-elves, Wandlore, goblins, the young, the old, and most importantly, the power of _love_. All of them are more powerful then you could have ever wished to be. You wonder why the Elder Wand failed you, well, the simple answer to that, is you always thought that learning about Wandlore was below you, did you Tom". At first, Voldemort didn't say anything. Then he finally stiffly said "Yes".

"Now look at where that has got you Tom. You could've been a very great wizard. But you took the easy way. I often say this, but you must choose between what is right, and what is easy. And by looking at how your life turned out, I think what you chose was easy. And look at what you did during your life, you've killed so many people, and for what, for _power_. You killed the innocent, both magical and muggle, all for nothing. Look at the lives and families you've torn apart. Which brings me to my next point. Why did you rip your soul into so many pieces? You were hardly human when you left the living world. Creating Horcruxes was, perhaps, one of the most ferocious acts of evil you ever committed. You did all of that, just so that you could live forever; but look at what you became. You were never very smart Tom. Sure you could perform magic many couldn't, but it is our choices, and our habits that show how smart we really are Tom…I thought you would have noticed that".

They sat in more silence. Dumbledore was slowly losing his cheerfulness. It was obvious that he had wanted to say all that to him for a very long time. After many more minutes of silence, Voldemort spoke, "So now what becomes of me?"

"Well, Tom, that is another choice you must make, ironically", said Dumbledore, "You may move on, and accept the fact that you are dead. Go onto the afterlife. Or you may go back to the living world, as a shadow of what you were. Less alive than what you were all those years ago in Albania. What do you choose?"

Voldemort sat in silence, thinking hard. Dumbledore, once again, didn't lose his gaze on Voldemort. Finally, Voldemort spoke, "I will move on. I don't want to become a useless ghost".

"Good choice. It is good to see are no longer as big a coward you were in the living world", said Dumbledore. "So for now, we say goodbye". With that, Dumbledore got up, and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going? Aren't you going to take me with you?" said Voldemort, almost fearfully.

"Tom. I will not be taking to the next life. They will", he said, pointing in the distance. At that, two people, a man and a girl came out of the fog: Tom Riddle Senior, and Merope Gaunt. Voldemort looked at them for a moment, not knowing who they were, but he made the connection. He got up, and joined his mother and father. They parted ways; leaving the living world behind, never going back – and never wanting to.


	2. The Truth At Last

** Author's Note: This chapter takes place the night after Harry defeated Voldemort. It will be in Harry's POV. Hope you like it. I will also say that most chapter lengths vary. The Prologue was very short - because there wasn't much else to say - but I promise that that will be the shortest chapter in the whole story.**

Chapter Two

**_The Truth at Last_**

Harry Potter was softly sleeping in his four poster bed, with the curtains drawn – as they had been for fifteen hours. The minuet Harry's head hit the pillow, he had drifted off to sleep.

"Harry", called a voice. "Harry!" it called again. Quite easily, Harry thought the voice a part of his dream; until a hand drew back the curtains to his bed, and softly rested against his head.

"Harry." Harry slowly opened his eyes, to see long, fiery red hair that had the wonderful sent of flowers, and below which, was the beautiful face Ginny Weasley.

"Ginny!" Harry said surprised. "What time is it?"

"It's ten o'clock at night! You've been asleep for the whole day. Kreacher brought you tea at about six, but it's probably cold now", Ginny said, taking the tea away, and replacing it with a new cup, and a plate full of muffins. Harry sat up, and gave Ginny a hug, whispering into her ear, "I've really missed you".

"I missed you to Harry. It was horrible not knowing if you were alive or not", Ginny replied softly.  
"When we were completely clueless as to what was going on in the real world, I would take out the Marauders' Map, just to look at your name, and to check that you were still okay", Harry told her. Ginny placed her head onto Harry's shoulder, and they sat there together for a moment – or more…they didn't know, or care. They were just happy to be with each other once again.

"I suppose we should get up", Ginny said to Harry, looking up into his green eyes.

"Alright", Harry replied. They slowly got up, and, together, they left the dormitory, and walked down the stairs into the common room, to find that all of the Weasleys were there, and just the Weasleys. This is what Harry had wanted.

"I'll go and get those muffins", Ginny offered. Harry went over to one of the couches and sat down next to Ron. He stared into the small fire, feeling the gazes of the others on him. Ginny came back with the plate of muffins, set them down on the table and sat down on the other side of Harry. It was Mr. Weasley who spoke first:

"Well, Harry, Ron, Hermione, I think we all would like to know what has been happening. What was it that Dumbledore wanted you three to do?" Harry looked at him, then said:

"When Dumbledore was still alive, I had private lessons with him. He would show memories in his pensive that were connected to Tom Riddle. These memories would explain his childhood, what he was like, and his life after he left Hogwarts.

'Voldemort, as we know, was the last descendant of Slytherin. His mother fell in love with a muggle man from the village they lived outside of named Tom Riddle. So she gave him a love-potion, and they got married. After a few years, she about to have a baby, and she decided to stop giving Tom Riddle the potion, because she thought he would truly love her anyway – but she was wrong. Tom Riddle abandon his mother, and she became poor. The only treasure she had was Slytherin's locket; but she didn't know what it was, or how much it was worth.

'So she went to Knockturn Alley, into Borgin and Burkes, and sells the locket to Borgin for very little. The baby was about to come, so she went to an orphanage in London. She said his first-name was to be 'Tom', after his father, middle-name was to be 'Marvello', after her brother, and his last-name was to be 'Riddle', again after his father. But just after Voldemort was born, she died; and Voldemort was left to be raised in an orphanage.

'I know these details may seem pointless, but they do mean something in the end. But anyway, every year at the orphanage, they would go on a trip. One year, when Riddle was starting to express his magical abilities, they went to the ocean-side. Riddle, even then, was a bully. He took two other people into a cave, and tormented them. Nobody could figure out how they got there, because, they got there by magic.

'It was Dumbledore who was the one to break the news to Riddle that he was a wizard. So Tom Riddle was off to Hogwarts. The second the Sorting Hat touched his head, it yelled _"Slytherin"._ Tom Riddle never had any real friends at Hogwarts, and didn't want any either. He realized that he was the descendant of Salazar Slytherin, and he also found out about the Chamber of Secrets. So in his fifth year, he finally figured out how to open it. There were many attacks, and one death. The ghost of the woman is still at Hogwarts; she is known as Moaning Myrtle. But by that time, Dumbledore suspected Riddle of opening the Chamber, so he sealed it, and he dared not attempt opening it again while at Hogwarts.

'There was a teacher that liked Riddle more than any other, Horace Slughorn. One thing Voldemort always feared was death. So he went well out of his way to make sure that he didn't die. In the Restricted Section of the library, there used to be books on objects called 'Horcruxes'. Those are objects that conceal a part of one's soul - however, it also means tearing apart your soul – killing. So Riddle looked up how to make them, and succeeded. However, he didn't only want to make one Horcrux, but seven, to ensure that he never died. So he went to Slughorn and asked him what would happen. Sure enough, Slughorn told him all he needed to know about Horcruxes, without realizing, that he was telling this to, what would become, the most evil wizard ever.

'So Voldemort succeeded in making Horcruxes. They were not any old object, and they weren't hid in any old place, they were, and were hid, in places that meant a lot to him. The first one destroyed, in the Chamber of Secrets itself, was Tom Riddle's diary; and it, as we know, possessed Ginny and got her to open the Chamber. The next destroyed was a ring, that once belonged to Riddle's other descendants, the Peverells.

'I am sure you have all heard the story of the Three Brothers?" They all nodded.

"Well, the three objects in that story, the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility were what are known as the Deathly Hallows. If one is the possessor of all three hallows, they become the master of Death. However, since Riddle was brought up by muggles, he never knew about the Deathly Hallows. Sure enough, he turned the Resurrection Stone into a Horcrux without knowing it. The resurrection stone was on the ring. This Horcrux was hidden in abandon house of the Gaunts, which was Voldemort's mother's last name.

'The next Horcrux destroyed was Slytherin's locket, hidden in the cave he tormented those children in. After that came Hufflepuff's cup, hidden in the Lestrange vault in Gringotts. Yes," he said looking at the puzzled look on their faces, "we successfully broke into Gringotts.

'The last object he turned into a Horcrux was Ravenclaw's lost diadem, hidden in the Room of Requirement, which must transform into the room of hidden things in order to find it.

'Three years ago, Voldemort turned his snake, Nagini, into a Horcrux. This, he thought, was the last Horcrux he made. However, he made a Horcrux he never knew about. On the night, sixteen years ago in Godric's Hollow, my mother, Lily, cast herself between me and Voldemort, prepared to die for me. Voldemort couldn't touch me. But when Voldemort failed to kill me, part his soul went into me. That is why I've been able to read his mind, and talk to snakes. I will no longer be able to speak Parseltounge. I was the Horcrux Voldemort never meant to make. So this evening, I walked into the Forest, and when Voldemort went to kill me, I never defended myself. Voldemort destroyed the part of his soul that was living inside me – my soul now completely mine and whole." He said this proudly. They sat in silence for another minute.

"But where have you three been this year" asked Ginny.

"Well, when the wedding was interrupted by the Death Eaters, Hermione took us to Tottenham Court Road. While in a café, one of us said his name, and Death Eaters showed up, because of the Taboo. We escaped that, and went to Sirius's house. We stayed there for a few weeks. Do you all remember when we were cleaning out the place, and we found that old locket, well, that was Slytherin locket. Sirius's brother, Regulus, was a Death Eater years ago. Voldemort required a service of him. He needed a house-elf to assist him in checking that the locket was still in the hiding place and intact. So Regulus said Kreacher would go, and Kreacher, who always liked Regulus, agreed to go. Voldemort made Kreacher drink the potion that guarded the locket. Kreacher would've died there if Regulus didn't call him. It was when Kreacher told Regulus Voldemort's secret of Horcruxes and what Voldemort did to Kreacher that Regulus chose to switch sides. He asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, and Regulus drank the potion. He died there, but before he did, he ordered Kreacher to try to all his power to destroy the locket. So Kreacher went back home, and tried to destroy it, and couldn't; because in order to do so, you needed to open it with Parseltounge. So Kreacher put the locket in that cupboard, and when we threw it out, he stole it back. But after Sirius died, Mundungus Fletcher searched the house for anything valuable, and found the locket. He was selling in Diagon Alley, and Umbridge came up and took the locket. So then we went into the Ministry of Magic disguised as three other people. Mr. Weasley, do you remember a man named Runcorn telling you that you were being watched?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, that was me. But anyway, we stole the locket from Umbridge, and we rescued the Muggleborns from the courtrooms and took off. But when we were leaving, Yaxley caught hold of Hermione when she took us to Grimmauld Place, so she shook him off there, and took us to the forest where the Quidditch World Cup was held. We couldn't figure out how to destroy the Horcrux. So we stayed in hiding, traveling up and down the country. We each took turns wearing the locket to keep it safe, however, since part of Voldemort lived inside that thing, whoever wore it became cranky and not fun to be around. A bit before Christmas, we found out that the sword of Gryffindor could destroy Horcruxes, because I stabbed the Basilisk with that sword, and Basilisk venom can destroy Horcruxes. That night, Ron was wearing the locket, and when he found out that we had to find the sword of Gryffindor, he left us temporarily, and went to Bill's." The Weasleys gave Ron a look of disappointment, and Ron turned red.

"Well, Hermione and I went to Godric's Hollow, and we visited were I once lived. While we were walking, Bathilda Bagshot came up to us, even though we were disguised, she knew it was us. So we followed her to her house. When I was alone with her, she became Voldemort's snake. Bagshot had been dead for months, and was being possessed by the snake inside her. We narrowly escaped that, but my wand was destroyed. Oh, and we also went to the graveyard behind the church. On the grave of Ignotus Peverell, there was the sign of the Deathly Hallows – the same sign that Xenophilius Lovegood wore at the wedding.

"Do you all remember the objects that Dumbledore left us?" They all nodded.

"Well, the _Tales of Beedle the Bard _had more than just the children stories in it … Dumbledore drew in a symbol that wasn't a rune". Hermione showed them the symbol in the book.

"Well, that is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.

'We were staying in the Forest of Dean, and I was standing guard, when I saw a doe patronus. I followed it, outside of our protective enchantments, until it dissolved in a small pond. Inside that pond was the sword of Gryffindor. So I went into the water, but the locket sensed that a thing that could destroy it was close by, so it started to strangle me. Then I saw a figure up on the ice. The person got in the water, got the sword, and saved my life. When we got on the ice, I saw that the person, was Ron. Ron, I think it would be best if you describe your travels away from Hermione and me".

"Alright. Well, before I left them, I was having horrible feelings towards Harry while wearing the locket, because it had been about four months, and we only found one Horcrux, and we still hadn't found a way to destroy it. So I left that night, but the moment I disapperated, I regretted it; not only because I ended up in the hands of a bunch of Snatchers, but because I abandon my best friends, because I abandon the task that I swore to help with, and because the task was destroying Voldemort – and I walked out on it.

'So I narrowly escaped the Snatchers, by saying that I was Stan Shunpike, and I went to Bill and Fleur's. I stayed there until Christmas morning, when I saw the Deluminator Dumbledore left me. A little ball of light came out of it. So I got up, and the ball of light went into my heart, and I disapperated. Harry and Hermione's enchantments really do work well, because I couldn't see or hear them. So I kept apperating into the ball of light, and I kept following them. It wasn't until Harry finally followed the doe that I saw him. So Harry opened the locket by using Parseltounge, and I stabbed it with the sword."

All the Weasleys except for Percy was looking at Ron with a half disappointed look. But Percy looked at him as though he knew how it felt to abandon what was the right thing to do, and not be able to go back for a long time. Now Hermione spoke:

"So they came back to the tent at midnight. They told me the story of what had happened, and even though they destroyed one Horcrux, and found the sword of Gryffindor, I was furious at Ron for leaving for about a month. When I decided that we should go and see Xenophilius Lovegood, because I thought he held answers. Because while none of us knew that sign meant, we knew he would, because he was wearing the sign at the wedding.

'So we went to Lovegood's, and we found out that Luna had been captured because Xeno had been publishing stuff in the _Quibbler _that was saying that we should all be supporting Harry. But he also explained the mystery of the Deathly Hallows to us."

Now Harry spoke again:

"But then, in attempt to get Luna back, he called the Death Eaters and said that Harry was there. So then Hermione did some excellent fast thinking and covered Ron in the cloak, because he was supposed to be seriously ill, and we let the Death Eaters get a look at me before we disapperated.

'One night, a few weeks later, Ron was finally able to tune in to the radio programme called _"Potterwatch". _After it finished, I was stupid, and said Voldemort's name. Death Eaters and Snatchers came, and they took us to the Malfoy Manor. Dean had already been caught, and was in the trailer already. So they took us there, and they were debating whether or not I was really Harry Potter. But then, they saw the sword of Gryffindor in one of the Snatcher's hands, and Bellatrix freaked out, because Snape put an identical sword in her vault after Ginny, Neville, and Luna tried to steal it. So Bellatrix thought we broke into her vault, and took more than the sword. So they put Ron, Dean and me in the cellar, were Mr. Ollivander, Luna, and Griphook had been imprisoned, and Bellatrix tortured Hermione. Then, with one of the pieces of the two-way mirror Sirius gave me, I ask for help. Then Dobby came and rescued all of us. We also managed to get some more wands. Dobby took us to Bill and Fleur's, but before we disapperated, Bellatrix had thrown her knife, and it killed Dobby.

'I buried Dobby at Bill and Fleur's by hand. Then we talked to Griphook the Goblin. He told us all about the Lestrange's vault in Gringotts, which Snape knowingly placed the fake sword in the vault, and how to break into Gringotts – However, Griphook wanted something in return, the sword of Gryffindor. So we broke into Gringotts; Hermione disguised as Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron disguised as a foreigner, and Griphook and I were under the cloak. We found Hufflepuff's cup in the vault, but before we could destroy it, Griphook left with the sword. You were right Bill, he did trick us. So then we had to escape, and we did so on a dragon.

'We jumped off the dragon further north, away from any Death Eaters, and I saw Voldemort's thoughts, and finally found out about the Horcruxes. So he went to check that the others were still safe. He imagined the other Horcrux and where it was hidden, the diadem, and Hogwarts.

'So, I got the Horcrux, and it was destroyed by Crabbe, though, he didn't do it purposefully. Then, I read Voldemort's mind, and we was in the Shrieking Shack.

There was a very long silence – the Weasleys were just trying to soak in what they'd just heard. Ginny was the first to speak:

"But Ron, what were you and Hermione doing in a bathroom?"

"Well", said Ron, "I figured that there was no point in finding the Horcrux if we couldn't destroy it. Then the idea of the basilisk fang came to me. So Hermione and I went to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and we went into the Chamber of Secrets, and destroyed Hufflepuff's cup".

"So we went down to the Shrieking Shack", Harry said, "and saw Voldemort talking to Snape…about the Elder Wand. Voldemort thought that the wand was truly his; but it still wasn't working for him properly – so he thought, that since Snape killed Dumbledore, the last possessor, then he would have to kill Snape in order for the wand to be his. So he got Nagini to kill Snape, then he left. When Voldemort left, we went to Snape's side, and before he died, he gave me some memories – then he died.

'Then Voldemort said his second message to the castle just after that, and we came back up to the castle, Ron and Hermione went into the Hall, and I went up to the Headmaster's office, to look at the memoires. It turns out, that for the last seventeen, or eighteen years, Snape has truly been on our side…ever since Voldemort started going after my family – my mother.

'Snape loved my mother since he was about seven or eight – and they were friends up until fifth year, when Snape called her a 'Mudblood'. But Snape still loved her, even when he was truly working for Voldemort.

'Just before I was born, Professor Trelawney applied for a job at Hogwarts, and Dumbledore asked her to make a prediction, and she made the prophecy about me and Voldemort, saying that 'neither could live while the other survives', and that, in the end, one of us would have to kill the other'.

'Harry, dear, how long have you known this?' Mrs. Weasley asked, with deep concern in her voice.

'Since just after we got back from the Ministry two years ago', Harry said. 'Anyway, Snape and Wormtail overheard the prophecy, and without knowing who it was directed at, they took their information to Voldemort. Dumbledore said that Snape told him it was one of the deepest regrets that he ever made. But when he did find out who it was about, he went to Dumbledore, asking for help, swearing that he was his agent from that point onwards'.

'His memories also talked about me. You know how I was talking about the Horcruxes', they all nodded, 'Well, I was the Horcrux that Voldemort never intended to make'. Their faces all went wide in shock, and Harry could see that Mrs. Weasley was beginning to get tears in her eyes.

'On that night in Godric's Hollow, sixteen years ago, my mother sacrificed herself to save me, so, henceforth, Voldemort couldn't touch me without causing terrible pain to himself, but he didn't know that until after he sent a killing curse at me. So, his already divided soul, left Voldemort's body when the curse rebounded, and went into the only living thing it could find: me'. There were several gasps at this – the loudest from Mrs. Weasley.

'So I left the office, and went into the forest. You know how we were talking about the Hallows, well, inside the Snitch I inherited, was the Resurrection Stone, and Dumbledore made it say, when it touched my mouth, 'I open at the close'; the close meaning death. So I put the Snitch into my mouth on the way into the forest – underneath the invisibility cloak,' he added reassuringly. 'The Snitch finally opened, and there stood my parents, Sirius, and Lupin. They walked through the forest with me, and I met up with Voldemort. He shot the Killing Curse at me, and the Horcrux inside me was destroyed.

'I had to pretend to be dead, so I could survive, and get the invisibility cloak back on, and Hagrid carried me up to castle. You all know what happened after that', Harry concluded.

Mrs. Weasley came over, tears in her eyes, and gave him a big hug. Feeling happy to let it all out, Harry hugged her back. When she finally slackened her grip on him, he grabbed a muffin and some more pumpkin juice.

They all went back to bed after the retell of the past year, and Harry was still, despite his fifteen hours of sleep just ending about an hour previously, mentally and physically exhausted. It wasn't until nine o'clock the next day that he was again awaked by the sound of Ginny softly saying his name.

'How are you feeling Harry', she asked softly.

'Fine, how are you feeling', Harry said.

'Pretty good', she replied, 'but I'll be better once I've been with you for a while', she said softly. Smiling, Harry sat up, and noticed that they were the only two in the dormitory, so he motioned for Ginny to get onto his bed.

'I'm so proud of you Ginny, for standing up to those Carrows – and to all of those Slytherins', Harry told her softly, and briefly and softly squeezed her. 'I still really do love you - and I wanted you to know that I didn't want to breakup with you last year, but I felt that I had to, to keep you safe'.

'Well, now that I have the famous Harry Potter's approval and reassuring, I can say that I love you too Harry'; she leaned up, and they softly kissed – knowing, that they would forever be with each other, from that point onward.

**A/N: Sorry for any mistakes that I might have made (if there are any). **

**Feedback would be great!**


	3. The Long Road Home

**Authors Note: This is the final chapter that takes place at Hogwarts (after the battle). I was going to call this chapter _The Long and Winding Road Home_ - but that would have ripped off the Beatles. Enjoy this chapter. It will remain in Harry's POV.**

Chapter Three

**_The Long Road Home_**

Harry and Ginny, after about an hour of being alone, left the dormitory, and found the common room to be empty, so they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They saw the Weasleys and Hermione sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table, eating their breakfast, apparently happy. The remainder of the staff was up on the raised platform eating, Professor McGonagall in the middle chair that Professor Dumbledore so often occupied.

Ron gave a curious glance at Harry and Ginny, while Hermione just smiled at the pair of them. Mrs. Weasley got up and gave Harry a hug and said, 'Harry, dear, how are you doing?'

'I'm fine now – well rested', Harry replied quietly, but yet loud enough so that all the Weasleys and Hermione could hear, so he didn't have to answer the question much more that morning. Harry sat down next to Ginny, across from Ron and Hermione, and began to eat his breakfast – staying quiet, and just listening. After about ten minutes, Professor McGonagall stood up, and went to the podium,

'Good morning,' she said, somewhat brightly, 'Now that we should all be well rested, and fed, those of us who wish to, will continue rebuilding Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn will be working in the dungeons to get the pillars and other supports and walls back to being strong, Professor Sprout and Hagrid will be working in the grounds; Professor Flitwick will be working in the towers and the higher levels of the castle, and I will be working in the main levels of the castle. I would be a great help to everyone if you could stay and help rebuild, but it is optional – thank-you'.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were helping Professor McGonagall, Bill and Fleur were helping Professor Slughorn, George and Charlie were helping Hagrid, and Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry were helping Professor Flitwick up in the towers.

The morning passed quite quickly, and at twelve thirty, everyone was back in the Great Hall eating their lunch. The towers proved to be very difficult to repair, and they received the most curses, spells, and anything else that the Death Eaters could throw at them.

Throughout the morning, Ron became more and more suspicious that Harry and Ginny were once again a couple, but he did his very best to hide any feeling other than happiness towards them. They were able to get all the work done in the towers, dungeons, and main floors in the morning, so everyone would be pitching in to help get the grounds back to the way they were.

The dead had been placed in two separate chambers: those who were fighting for Hogwarts were in one chamber, and those who were Death Eaters or Snatchers were placed in another. In the very middle of the second chamber, was remains of Voldemort. Harry was surprised that anybody had the will to even come near the body; and he was sure that they would dispose of his body by doing none other than burning it.

They were able to finish up the grounds by about midafternoon; and later that night, a memorial service would be held in the grounds. They would all attend, but they had agreed that Harry, accompanied by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would quietly show up just barely before it started, and locate themselves near the back – away from unwanted attention. As it was pointed out to Harry, that if he weren't to do so, then he would be of some distraction. So after super that night, nearly four-hundred people gathered next to the lake for the service.

Harry couldn't remember much of the service, even the next morning – but he did know that he could hold himself together, and that he cried at the sight of Fred, Lupin, and Tonks lying dead in their coffin.

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys would be returning to the Burrow that morning, by apperating just beyond the barriers of the property, as the protective enchantments hadn't been removed yet, and wouldn't be for a while, as an extra safety measure against uncaptured Death Eaters or Snatchers.

When just about everyone had finished eating their breakfast, Professor McGonagall stood and walked up to the podium:

'I'd like to thank each and every one of you, for your efforts to bring Hogwarts back to the way it was; this was greatly appreciated. Now that that era in our lives has ended, we must make sure we make the next one a million times better – as the last one was quite lousy', this received a few little laughs here and there.

'The Hogwarts express will be leaving at ten o'clock this morning, for those who wish to ride it, whilst the Floo Network has been set up in Professors Sprout, Flitwick, Slughorn, and my own office; and those wishing to apparate back to their respective properties must do so out of Hogsmeade.

'Although I'm sure that they would rather not be recognised, I'd like to thank the following people for getting us through that tough time', Harry felt his ears get red, and his face get hot at this statement, as Professor McGonagall looked at him.

'First, to Order of the Phoenix, for fighting against the evil forces that tried to penetrate our world – both past, present; dead, or alive'. Everyone clapped.

'To a group that called themselves 'Dumbledore's Army', for standing up against the Carrows, and, even though he was on our side the whole time, Professor Snape'. More people clapped this time.

'In particular, I'd like to thank Ronald Weasley: for going above and beyond to help defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters', there was loud roar of applause.

'To Miss Hermione Granger: for, as Mr. Weasley, going above and beyond, magically, and by using her amazing intelligence to help defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters'. An even louder applause.

'And finally, to the one who saved us all from Lord Voldemort; the one who has, since the age of eleven, fought against him, and proved himself to be beyond worthy of surviving, and showed endless examples of courage, bravery, intelligence, skill, and a heck of a lot of nerve: the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, or Harry James Potter'. This got Harry a standing ovation. Harry was again on the verge of tears, as he hugged Mrs. Weasley, then Ron, Hermione, and for the longest time, Ginny. After minutes of the ovation, Professor McGonagall finally got the Hall to quiet down once again.

'Again, thank-you to everyone here for helping us repair Hogwarts, and I look forward to seeing many of you in September'. Another applause followed this, and everyone filed out of the Hall. But Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys remained seated, waiting for the traffic to die down.

'Who do you think got the best applause?' Ron joked. Harry couldn't help but blush. Ginny held Harry's hand tightly under the table, trying to take away any bad emotions that Harry might have.

About fifteen minutes later, Professor McGonagall called Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley up to the platform. Together, they all walked up to were Professor McGonagall sat waiting for them.

'I've called you up here to talk about your future education; and I figured Molly and Arthur would want to part of this decision as well. Firstly, Ms. Weasley, considering the state that the school was in this year, and how the year never ended, you will have to do some studying in Defence Against the Dark Arts this summer, then at the end of the summer, you will come here and write your sixth year examinations, along with ever other sixth year who wishes to do so.

'As for you three,' she looked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, 'None of you have completed any of your seventh year courses, due to, what I'd call your 'leave of absents'', she said with a grin. Mr. Potter and Weasley, are your ambitions still the same: to become Aurors?'

'Yes ma'am', they replied in unison.

'Well then, seeing as the two of you just defeated Voldemort, I don't think that Minister Shacklebolt will be too concerned that you don't have your NEWTs, but I'd definitely recommend taking them'.

'I'll come back, Professor,' Harry said, 'If I become an Auror, I'd like to become one just like anyone else'.

'Same goes for me', Ron said after a moment.

'Good, now, Miss Granger, I'd think that you'll be coming back so that you can complete you NEWTs?' Professor McGonagall asked.

'Yes ma'am', Hermione replied.

'Alright, I'll see you all at the end of the summer', she said.

They all walked back to where the rest of the Weasleys were sitting, and then they all began to walk out of the Hall, and into the grounds. It was another sunny day, and as Harry clutched Ginny's hand, he couldn't help but smile, no matter what had happened in the past few days.

'What is it Harry?' George asked with a smirk.

'Nothing really', Harry replied, 'But now, at least, life will be back to normal'.

'Here, here', Bill said with a slight laugh.

They reached the gates of Hogwarts, and, together, they apparated back to the Burrow – ready to start – _The_ _New Beginning…_


	4. The Burrow, Again

**Author's Note: This chapter begins (as you can see) as a newspaper article - then resumes in Harry's POV. However, there is a part in the chapter (that is in italics) that is in Mrs. Weasley's POV (it's easy to tell when that part comes). Enjoy the chapter!**

Chapter Three

**_The Burrow, Again_**

_THE DARK LORD FINISHED AT LAST_

_ Just days ago (May 2nd, 1997), the man who was leading our world into chaos, was killed by none other than Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, or the Chosen One. For the last year, an organisation that called themselves the 'Death Eaters' (He Who Mustn't Be Named servants), and those who weren't granted this position, who called themselves the 'Snatchers', and of course, You-Know-Who himself had been taking control over the wizarding world. _

_ Starting about a year and a half ago, there were several rumors that Harry James Potter was the Chosen One, or in other words, the only one who could defeat the Dark Lord. We never truly knew if this was true – until Harry Potter revealed this to the old Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimagor. However, Scrimagor didn't highly publicize this. Nearing the end of May in 1996, Albus Dumbledore was murdered by a man who he thought was his, Severus Snape. There were many rumors going around about Snape for almost two decades about what side he was on. (For this, see for on page three.) _

_ About a month and a half after Dumbledore died, the Death Eaters took control over the Ministry of Magic, and the Wizarding World itself, and named Harry Potter, Undesirable Number One. So Potter basically vanished from the face of the earth – unseen by no one except Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley, who have been with Potter since their first year at Hogwarts in 1991._

_ The next time anybody saw Potter, was at the Malfoy Manor at Easter, where the trio was apparently brought to once they had been captured by the Snatchers. However, this was publicized because the trio, along with three other innocent prisoners escaped later that night. _

_ Finally, just days ago, the trio, along with post Gringotts goblin, Griphook, broke into the bank, and successfully got out with a treasure the Lestrange vault, on a dragon. They remain the only people to successfully break into a Gringotts vault and take something (however, seven years ago, former Hogwarts teacher, Professor Quirrell, broke into the vault that the Philosopher's Stone was in, but the stone had been removed earlier that day – so the security was minimal). _

_ A few hours after they broke in, and got out, they apparated into Hogsmeade, and the Death Eaters instantly knew. The trio got into Aberforth Dumbledore's bar, and got into Hogwarts from there. Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood (a friend of Potter's, who is also believed to have been held ransom at the Malfoy Manor), went up to the Ravenclaw tower, where one of the Carrows (unknown) found them, but was apparently stunned, and the other Carrow came and was imperiused (the caster is also currently unknown). Headmaster Snape found out, and he and Professor McGonagall dueled until Snape fled. _

_ The Dark Mark having already been touched, the Dark Lord knew that Potter was at Hogwarts. So those were still in the school, prepared to fight – and so they did. It wasn't until after midnight that the battle ceased for the first time, and the Dark Lord commanded his forces to retreat into the Forbidden Forest. The fighters who were still alive, and not a Death Eater nor Snatcher, treated to their injured, and retrieved the dead. But Harry Potter was nowhere to be seen. It is rumored that Potter went up to the Headmaster's office, but what happened there is unknown. _

_ About an hour and a half later, He Who Mustn't Be Named, along with all of his forces, and a captured Professor Hagrid, who was carrying what many believed to be a dead Harry Potter in his arms, came out of the forest, and went to the castle. _

_ Eye witnesses said that a seventh year Gryffindor student, Neville Longbottom, stood up to Voldemort, and pulled the sword of Godric Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat. Harry Potter jumped out of Hagrid's arms, and put on his Invisibility Cloak – the battle continued into the Great Hall, where You-Know-Who's forces were slowly being defeated. _

_ Potter came out from underneath the cloak once only the Dark Lord remained alive – they alone duelled; and Harry Potter won the duel, leaving our world in peace once again._

Harry finished reading the newspaper article that had been placed on the front page of the _Daily Prophet_, as he was sipping some tea in the kitchen of the Burrow. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and George had returned to work, and Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named Minister for Magic. With only Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny home in during the day, life was calm and quiet at the Burrow.

It was about midmorning, and they were all sitting around the table finishing off their breakfast. Only Mrs. Weasley had gone out for the morning to get some things done, and wouldn't be returning until late that afternoon.

After breakfast, the four of them made their way out into the yard, under the warm spring sun. Ron seemed to be leading them a spot that he had in mind for them. About fifteen minutes later, after walking across a field, and part way into a bush, they found themselves at the bottom of a tree with a wooden fort part way up.

Ron began to climb up the rope ladder that looked as though it would fall apart with the slightest amount of weight, however, Harry assumed that Mr Weasley had placed a charm on it so that it wouldn't do so. Hermione followed Ron up more cautiously, and Harry motioned for Ginny to go ahead of himself.

Although it looked fairly small from the outside, it was very spacious on the inside – too spacious in order for the tree house to normal to the muggle standards. Mr Weasley must have also placed an undetectable extension charm on the tree fort as well. There were a few old worn couches and a tea-table in the middle of the two couches. They all sat down – Ron and Hermione on one couch (Harry noticed them holding hands), and Harry and Ginny followed suit on the other couch.

'So', Ron began, 'What do we all do now? With our lives I mean'. They all looked sort of stunned by Ron saying this; as normally, he didn't like to discuss this type of thing, and also wasn't usually so broad. After a moment or two, Hermione said,

'Well, I'd personally like to go complete my NEWTs, because I think I'd like to do some work in the Ministry – maybe with Magical Creatures, or Law Enforcement'.

'I'm going back too', Harry said after a moment of thought. 'These last few years have been really stressful, and I think I'd just like a year to relax with you three'. When he said, he was mainly talking to Ginny – and he was sure that she definitely approved of this decision.

'I mean', Harry continued, 'If I'm going to become an Auror, I want to become one just like anyone else…not because of my past'.

Ron had to consider this, as Harry was quite sure that Ron really wanted to finish off his education.

'I guess I'll go back too', he said after some consideration. 'But this summer, I think I'll help George out in the shop, I mean, just to get him back on his feet'. Hermione looked at him in with disappointment on her face.

'Don't worry though Hermione', Ron said, noticing her face, 'I won't be working there all the time, and I'll come back here every night'.

Hermione still didn't look completely reassured, but Harry could tell that she wasn't angry at Ron.

'And Ginny', Harry began, 'You said that you have to complete your sixth year this summer right? So you'll be in our year?'

'Yes, I guess we will be in the same year! That should be really fun!' Ginny said excitedly.

With that, Ginny moved closer to Harry, and put her head on his chest. At this, Ron looked away, as if he were pretending that he never saw this happen. However, Hermione distracted him by doing the same as Ginny.

The four of them sat there relaxing, and talking about this and that, until about 11:00 am, when they decided it would be best that they got back to the house before Mrs. Weasley did.

Luckily, she wasn't yet back, so they all sat down on couches in the Living Room.

'Want to play Quidditch this afternoon?' Ginny asked.

'I still need to get a new broom, my old Firebolt got destroyed last year during the flight battle', Harry said. Ginny looked slightly disappointed by this, but she knew that Harry was also slightly sadden because that was the first thing that Sirius had ever given him.

'Why don't we go into Diagon Alley this afternoon then?' Ron said. 'I'm sure we could all use some new things; and I could talk to George about working for him this summer', Ron said.

At that moment, they all heard 'Pops!' in the kitchen, they got up and checked what was happening, and there on the table was bags full of things. Then they heard a big commotion coming from the sitting room, and by instinct, Harry drew his wand. When they looked in the sitting room, it was full of smoke, and they heard a voice:

'Oh, this darn fireplace, now I have to fix this! Oh! Hello dears, how was your morning?' Mrs. Weasley just arrived back at the Burrow by the Floo Network.

'What's wrong with the fireplace mom?' Ginny asked.

'Oh, it's full of soot, so whenever someone comes by Floo Network, this room fills with smoke, as you can plainly see!' she replied, and with a wave of her wand, all the smoke vanished from the room, then she turned to the fireplace and cleaned all the soot of the mantle and the brick.

'What do you say to some lunch? You all look hungry', Mrs. Weasley asked.

'Sure Mom', Ron answer.

'Alright, I'll have something ready in about fifteen minutes', she said, and left for the kitchen to begin cooking.

Before they knew it, the five of them were sitting at one end of the long table in the Burrow kitchen, eating the soup and biscuits Mrs. Weasley had prepared for them.

'So, what are you lot up to this afternoon', Mrs. Weasley asked.

'We were planning on going into Diagon Alley, Mom', Ginny said.

'What are things like there at the moment anyway?' Harry asked.

'Oh, well, all of those stupid 'Undesirable No. 1' posters have been taken down', Harry sighed in relief, Mrs. Weasley continued, 'There are quite a few people out and about, getting things. There are still quite a few shops that aren't open though. I did see Florean working on getting his shop up and running again'.

'That's good, I really liked his ice cream', Harry said. 'He used to give it to me for free when I was thirteen'.

'Was that the summer that you blew up your Aunt, what was her name, Aunt Barge?' Hermione asked.

'My Aunt Marge, yeah, I think it was', Harry replied.

'We also thought Sirius was after you, remember?' Ginny said.

'Yeah', Harry said, 'Oh, maybe I could get that broom today! That should be interesting. Ginny, could you help with that?'

'Sure, I be glad to, Harry', Ginny said, and then reached out under the table and took Harry's free hand. Mrs. Weasley slightly suspected _something _going on between them – but she was soon distracted from her thoughts by Ron,

'Mom, could we have the key to our Gringotts vault? We'll need money if we're going to buy some things'.

'Sure, I suppose,' she replied, 'but don't buy too much'.

'Relax, Mom', Ron said. 'We've gotten used to that factor', Ron said, under his breath.

'What was that young man?' Mrs. Weasley said harshly.

'Nothing, Mom', he said.

They finished the rest of their lunch in near silence, only conversing small-talk. Mrs. Weasley went back to her thoughts about Harry and Ginny…

_'Oh, it would be wonderful if they got together – and eventually married. I know Ginny used to hardly be able to talk to Harry, but that was only because of her, what I like call, 'school-girl crush'. I can tell they like, or even love, each other by the way they look at one another. The twinkle in Harry's eyes when they look or talk to each other, how Ginny is always smiling at him. And I could have sworn that I saw Ginny move her hand toward Harry when he asked if she could help him find a new broom. Maybe that wasn't just because Harry knew she knew her stuff about Quidditch? To think they'll be going back to Hogwarts in a couple months…away from my watchful eyes… What am I thinking – I have nothing to worry about. They wouldn't do anything more than snog, if even._

_ 'Then there is Ron and Hermione. I'm sure that there is something going on between them. Ron used to count down the days until he could see Hermione again. He said that he was counting down until Harry came – but it was easy to see through that lie'._

'Mom! Mom! MOM!'

'What, sorry dears, what is it?' Mrs. Weasley said, as if nothing had been going on inside her head.

'You were staring towards me and Harry, then Ron and Hermione, with a very dreamlike look in your eye! You were daydreaming!' Ginny said. 'We better get going. It's almost 1:30. See you later. Thanks for lunch.' With that, she let go of Harry's hand, and gave her mother a hug, and waited for the other three.

'Thanks Mrs. Weasley. That was really good', Harry said.

'Thanks', Ron and Hermione said, almost in unison.

The four of them walked out into the garden, and as soon as Harry closed the door behind him, Ron said,

'I swear, that woman can be bloody mental sometimes!'

'For what, daydreaming!' Ginny said.

'I used to daydream all the time!' Harry said (half jokingly), 'you calling me mental?'

'Never mind', Ron said, 'let's get going'

With that, he disapperated with a 'Pop'. Hermione then left a second later – looking at the spot Ron was in slight disgust. Harry immediately realized why, and said to Ginny,

'Together?'

Smiling, Ginny said, 'Of course!'

Harry took her hand, and turned on the spot, and arrived with Ginny on the magical side of the barrier in the Leaky Cauldron.

**I was going to include what happens in Diagon Alley - but I have big plans for what happens there. So I decided to stop there.**

**Feedback would be awesome!**


	5. Ignotus Peverell's Remains

Chapter Five

**_The Second Vault: Ignotus Peverell's Remains_**

Harry and Ginny found Ron and Hermione about ten feet away from them, so they walked towards them. Ron looked at them then looked away, noticing that they were holding hands, and there next to no space between the two of them. Hermione gave a sigh, as if to say 'Oh get over it'. Then Ginny glanced at her, and they gave each other impish grins, and Hermione took Ron's hand, and basically mimicked what Harry and Ginny were doing. Then Ginny gave the same sigh Ron gave (however, very sarcastically, and jokingly), while Harry and Hermione burst out laughing. At this, Ron's cheeks turned as red as his hair.

'Really changed since the last time we were here, eh?' Ron said, obviously trying change the subject (even though the previous one was non-verbal).

'Yeah', Hermione said, 'Still has a long way to go, though'.

'Gringotts first?', Ginny asked.

'Actually', Hermione said, 'Why don't you two go, and Ron and I will go talk to George'.

'Sounds good to us', Harry said (after getting Ginny's look of enthusiastic approval).

With that, the two couples went their separate ways.

'You can see Florean in his shop over there', Ginny said pointing up the road.

'Yeah! And look! There Ollivander in his shop!' Harry said.

They continued to point out old shop owners, who have reunited with their respective shops, until they finally made it to Gringotts. Harry looked up at the old building, and the roof caught his eye…There was still a hole there, but there were people working on repairing it.

'Do you think I'll be accepted into here?' Harry asked Ginny.

Before she could answer, they heard a very pleasant voice from the doorway of the building, and looked up to see a man of his twenties, with dark red hair…

'Harry! Ginny! Thought I'd see you here eventually!' said Bill Weasley. 'Thought Ron and Hermione would be with you unless…and you two…' he broke away from his thoughts and formed a very happy smile on his face.

'Thought this would happen eventually', he said.

When Harry finally realized what he was talking about, couldn't help but blush, and nod. Before their conversation went any further, a voice from below them said,

'Put your hands away from your body!' A goblin had come up to them with a Security Probe, but before he could continue his investigations, Bill said,

'Don't worry, Audric, they're with me. Come on, you two'.

'Thanks Bill', Ginny said.

'No problem. If it wasn't for that, the goblins would have inquired Harry! If, you get my drift…' Bill said.

'They aren't too mad about that are they?' Harry asked, worried.

'They're a bit ticked off, you could say. But don't fret over it, Harry', Bill said. 'So, whose vault first?'

'Oh, just mine. Ron has your family vault key. So I'll buy anything Ginny needs', Harry said. When Bill smiled and turned back around, Harry leaned closer yet to Ginny, and whispered, 'Or wants'.

With that, Ginny made sure Bill was in a conversation with a goblin about getting into Harry's vault, then quickly, but passionately kissed him. Before that could escalade any further, Harry heard Bill say,

'All right thanks Cadby'. Then he turned around, and Harry and Ginny looked just as they did coming in – but Bill swore that he saw Harry's lips a tiny bit redder then before…

Then, yet another goblin came out of a door, and said,

'Mr. Potter and Mrs. Weasley, this way please'.

'Aren't you coming Bill?' Ginny asked.

'No, I'm not allowed to know what's in there, at least while I'm working, anyway'.

'Alright, well, thanks Bill', Harry said.

'No problem, Harry', Bill said, then winked at Harry, and walked away.

Harry and Ginny proceeded to where the carts where, but before the goblin started the cart, he said to Harry,

'Mr. Potter, do you trust this young woman enough to reveal to her some very confidential business, which not even we goblins know the answer to yet?'

'I trust Ginny with my life', Harry said. Then he leaned towards Ginny, and whispered to her, 'I'd show her just anything of mine'. Harry winked at her, and Ginny laughed, before kissing him in the same fashion she did in the Lobby.

'First,' the goblin started, 'I will take to the vault that you've been in before'.

'What do you mean, 'The one I've been in before'? Harry asked.

'You'll see', the goblin replied.

The cart progressed farther underground, until they finally arrived at Harry's vault. The goblin asked for the key – opened the vault, and let Harry and Ginny inside.

Ginny couldn't help but look at all of Harry's money in 'Aw'.

'Wow, Harry, your ancestors must have made loads!' Ginny said.

'Does that make more attractive', Harry asked, jokingly.

'Slightly. It's hard to find more ways for you to be attractive', Ginny said to Harry.

Harry took out about 150 galleons, and they got back inside the cart. Unexpectedly, the cart continued to progress downward. Harry was going to question the goblin, but before he reached his decision about whether or not to ask, the goblin spoke up,

'Where we are about to go, is Ignotus Peverell's vault', Harry and Ginny both gasp in shock. The goblin continued,

'Since, Mr. Potter, you are the last descendant of the Peverells, at least for now, and you are now of age, you are to look at the contents of the vault. I believe you parents, and your godfather, Sirius Black, have left things for you there'. Harry couldn't help but tear up slightly. He was about to go find more things that were his parents', godfather's, grandparents', great-grandparents', and possibly even further back. Harry just couldn't believe this.

Ginny noticed Harry silently crying, so she leaned over towards Harry, and hugged him, as a symbol of comfort. This helped Harry greatly, and, to let out all of his emotions, he hugged her back. When they released each other from their grip, Ginny still stayed right next to Harry, and leaned against him, to keep the feel of comfort, and of love with Harry.

After about ten minutes of descending deeper, and deeper into the earth, they finally came to a stop outside of a door. Harry expected there to be endless amounts of security, but nothing came. It appeared as though, since very little people made the connection of the Potter and Peverell families being one, and the Ignotus Peverell didn't have many enemies, all that was required was a key. The goblin put the key into the hole, opened the door, and stood back.

Ginny took Harry's hand, and helped him stand up, and get out of the cart. They walked over to the door with one of their arms wrapped around the other, and stepped into the vault.

There, in the massive vault, were trunks full of family treasures, furniture, portraits, and more gold. Closest to them however, were two trunks that were about the size of a dresser. On the first one, it said,

_For Harry James Potter – From your parents, Lily and James. Open this trunk first._

Although Harry knew that he would find something like this in the vault, he still couldn't believe his eyes. In this trunk, was very prised possessions of his parents.

'Together?' Ginny asked.

All Harry could do is nod. So Harry and Ginny both put one of their hands on the latch to open the trunk, and before Harry fully noticed what was going on, the trunk was open. However, there was something else in the trunk that Harry didn't expect: a letter. With much help from Ginny, as Harry's hands were shaking violently, they opened the envelope, unfolded the letter and began to read:

_Our Dearest Harry,_

_Happy seventeenth birthday! Your father and I are both very proud. I know that you wish, and we also, that we could have been there for you to congratulate in person – but unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way we really wished. We aren't sure if by the time you get this letter, and go into this vault, if Voldemort will have been defeated or not. If he hasn't – be brave, and be strong. If he has been defeated – we know that it must have been you who did so, based off of what Professor Dumbledore told us about a certain Prophecy…so we would like to thank you very much, and we again congratulate you for your actions. _

_Another reason why your father and I are writing this letter, is to explain the contents of this vault. In this trunk alone, there are many photo albums of your father as a child, and a Muggle photo album of myself as a child. There are also two albums of your father and I at Hogwarts, another couple of albums from after Hogwarts, and an album of your father and mines' wedding photos. At the bottom of this trunk, is a box that says 'Jewelry' on it; as you would have guessed, there is all the jewelry that I every bought, or your father ever gave to me. Also inside this trunk, is your seventeenth birthday present from your father and I: a gold watch, that belonged to your father, and was given to him when he turned seventeen, and a key. That key can get you into your grandparents' property and house, on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. This house has been magically protected with the Fidilius Charm, so now, you are to become Secret Keeper. This is the address of your property:_

_14247, Godric's Lane_

_The name of this property, if you were to connect the house to the Floo Network, is Riverbank Fields, as there is a river going through the back of the property, and there is an area, that is out of view of the Muggles, for you and your friends and family to play Quidditch. I'm sure you have played for Gryffindor, as you look just like your father, and he played Seeker for the Gryffindor team for many of his years in school. _

_There are also many prized possessions in this trunk that your father and I owned. _

_In the rest of the vault, is furniture, portraits, and other prized possessions of the Potter/Peverell family, dating all the way back to Ignotus Peverell himself. Hopefully, you've already inherited your father's Invisibility Cloak, and your father, who is sitting next to me now, would also like me to say that he hopes you've used it to do at least some wrong-doing at Hogwarts (especially against the new caretaker Dumbledore tells us about, named Argus Filch!). _

_Also, next to this trunk, is one from your godfather, Sirius Black. He was the best friend of your father, and we trust him with our life. He is a very kind and funny man. Open his trunk next._

_That is all your father and I have to say to you, Harry. We find it quite interesting that, while we are here writing this letter your seventeen year old self, you are sleeping in your father's arms right now!_

_One thing you must always remember, to love. That is the most powerful thing in the world – make sure you find someone to love in your life – that will make all the difference in making you happy._

_Stay brave (like the true Gryffindor we know you are),_

_More love than you could ever imagine,_

_Mom and Dad_

_1980._

By the time Harry and Ginny were done the letter, they both had tears in their eyes. After a moment to soak in all that Lily had wrote, Ginny gave Harry a very heart-felt hug, to help him cope with all the sad emotions that must have been going through his head.

Before they went to look in the trunk, Ginny said,

'Harry, I think we'll be here a while. I think you should send Ron and Hermione a Patronus Message, letting them know where we are'.

'Alright', Harry said quietly, then he took out his wand.

'Expecto Patronum!' They watched as the silver Stag went out of the Phoenix Wand, galloped around a little bit, then stopped in front of Harry, waiting for instructions.

'Go find Ron and Hermione. Tell them this, 'We are inside the Potter/Peverell vault in Gringotts. Not the vault you've seen before, it is a second fault. Come to Gringotts with my stag, and stay with him until you've reached my vault'. Harry finished. Then he said to the stag, 'Stay with Ron and Hermione until they've made it back to here, but stay invisible to anyone else. One moment, they'll need a note for the goblins to get down here'. Harry wrote on a piece of parchment, and noticed that he and Lily have the same writing,

_I, Harry James Potter, give Ron Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger, permission to come into the Potter/Peverell Vault, deep within Gringotts._

_Signed,_

_Harry James Potter._

Not knowing what would happen, Harry reached out with the note in his hand towards his Stag. The Stag reached out one of his legs, and the note disappeared.

'Give that to Ron and Hermione please. Go'.

The stag galloped around them a few more times, then ran out of the vault. Ginny gave Harry another hug, and silently, they began to go through the photo albums in the trunk. Ginny couldn't believe that there were pictures that didn't move. She thought it was pointless to take the picture if you couldn't see what was going on in the picture!

In the photo album of Harry's parents at Hogwarts, there were many pictures of his dad playing Quidditch, and some of him make a very difficult capture of the Snitch. There were also pictures of the Marauders, Lily and her friends, many with Mary.

In the wedding photos, there were many of Lily and James in various places – many were right by rivers, or in Godric's Hollow. There were also many of the Marauders (the best men), and Lily and her Bride's Maids.

After about half an hour of looking through the photos, they heard yet another cart come to a stop right outside of the vault door, and Ron and Hermione stepped out, and came over towards Harry. Ginny knew that Harry would have a hard time talking about the vault at the moment, so she told Ron and Hermione about it, and showed them the letter from Harry's mom and dad.

That reminded Harry that Sirius had also left Harry a trunk. Harry got up, and walked over to Sirius's trunk. On the top of that trunk, there was another note:

_To Harry James Potter; my Godson - open this trunk second._

He opened it, and he too, left a letter for him.

_ Harry, _

_ I am very proud to say that I am your godfather, and I wish you a very happy seventeenth birthday. I am writing this in 1995, and Buckbeak just got injured, so I just got back from mending him. _

'Wow', Harry thought. Sirius wrote this either the day before, or the day he died.

_ In my trunk, you will find some more of my own photo albums of your father and I in school, and some Black Family heirlooms. You will also find many letters your father, mother and I wrote to each other. Some of these letters were from Moony (but I burned any from Pettigrew as soon as I found them)._

_ I would just like to say how very proud I am of you. You saved me from going back to Azkaban, which is a very dreadful place. I also realized that had I gone back there, the Dementors would have gotten to me; because now I had something to live for: you._

_ You are very much like your parents. Lily was very brave, smart, kind and warming (you also have precisely her eyes). James was funny, brave, smart, and to those who deserved it, kind. I know that the biggest regret in his life, was acting the way he did before he and Lily started dating – so don't fret over the memory you told Moony and I. _

_I also must say that was one of the biggest regrets in my life. The other, is that I didn't find love. That will make your life so much better – and you would be so happy. I noticed, while you and your friends were staying here at Number Twelve, that a certain red head girl has her eye on you. You should go for her (if you haven't already), because you are both very passionate people. _

_Stay brave, Harry – both your parents and I are very proud of you, _

_Love,_

_Sirius._

Harry finished reading the letter, and he again had tears in his eyes; but he couldn't help but laugh.

'What is it Harry?' Ginny asked.

Harry paused.

'Sirius thought that you and I would make a good couple. He said so here', Harry said, then indicated to his letter.

'Let me see that', Ginny said.

She read through the letter, and did have a few tears in her eyes – but she also laughed.

'Your godfather was a smart man'.

The four of them continued to look through all of the things in the vault until about four o'clock. When they finally decided that they should go back up to Diagon Alley to do their shopping quickly. Ron and Hermione went to Madame Malkin's, to get some every day robes, and Harry and Ginny went to the Quidditch Supply shop.

'I think I'd like to get another Firebolt', Harry told Ginny.

'Yeah, that would probably be your best bet, seeing as it's the fastest, and you're used to it', Ginny said.

Harry went up to the counter and asked for a Firebolt, while Ginny went off to get some things for her own broom. Harry was glad about this, because when he got to the counter, he asked the clerk,

'May I please have two Firebolts?'

'Right away, sir', the clerk replied.

Two minutes later, the clerk gave him the two Firebolts, Harry paid for them, then he magically transported one of them back to his room in the Burrow – where Ginny wouldn't know about it until her birthday…

Harry found Ginny, showed her the Firebolt, then he asked her which Broom Servicing Kit was the best – so he bought two of those, and gave one to Ginny.

Harry and Ginny both got some robes, they met up with Ron and Hermione (who had purchased a book on Gringotts, because, 'I find it quite interesting – and now that Harry has two vaults, I'd better read up on it!').

The four of them then apparated back to the Burrow, and this time, Ron didn't make the same mistake as he did before.

**Author's Note: Alright, there was some pretty emotional stuff in this chapter – so I really thought I'd just sum up what happened on the rest of their outing, because, compared to what happened in the vault, nothing was very exciting.** **Also – I carefully chose the names of the goblins…Audric means wise ruler – fit for goblins…and Cadby means warrior…in the books, J.K. Rowling describes History of Magic Classes as learning about Goblin wars.**


	6. Life at the Burrow

Chapter Six

**_Life at the Burrow_**

**Author's Note: You will find, as the chapter progresses that I will begin to refer to Ron and Ginny's parents as Molly and Arthur. However, I will also call them Mr. and Mrs. Weasley if that feels right. Enjoy this chapter.**

The next day found Harry, Ginny, Ron, and a very scared Hermione up in the sky playing two a side Quidditch. Although they knew that it wasn't fair, each couple was a team. Harry's new Firebolt was amazing, and, although he didn't verbally admit it, it was even better than the one Sirius had given him in his third year.

Hermione was very feeble on a broom, and she had tried her best to avoid one after flying lessons in their first year. However, after Ron taught her how not to fall off, she seemed to be enjoying it – even if she was very scared.

The way they would play two a side Quidditch, is there would be a main Chaser on each side, and a Keeper/Chaser on each side. Harry was playing the latter – while Ginny played the Chaser. On the opposition, Ron was playing Keeper/Chaser, while Hermione did her best at playing Chaser against Ginny. Harry and Ginny were basically just flying around, not being too hard on Ron and Hermione – but Harry could tell Ron was getting a bit frustrated – so he requested that they stop for a while, and go in for lunch. During lunch, Hermione brought up a subject that they all knew would come soon…

'I've got to go get my parents from Australia soon. I really miss them!'

'Well', Mrs. Weasley began, 'If any of these lot are going with you, they'll have to get their Apparation Licence!'

'Oh!' Harry said, 'Did they even do the course at Hogwarts last year?'

'They did', Ginny said, 'But the Carrows ran it, so it was really brutal for anyone who wasn't a Slytherin. But that didn't stop me from apperating into a hoop three times!'

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand under the table and squeezed it, as if to say 'Congratulations!'

'When can we go to do our tests?' Ron asked his mother.

'Well, Arthur did say something about you lot going to the Ministry,' Mrs. Weasley said. 'But Ginny will have to wait until after her birthday to take her test! So Ginny, unless Hermione plans on waiting until August 11th, you aren't going to Australia!'

'It's alright Hermione', Ginny said, 'You go without me. I can't expect you to wait for two months to find your parents'.

Although Hermione wanted Ginny to come – she also desperately wanted to see her parents, so she merely smiled and nodded to Ginny.

The rest of their lunch past in mere silence. When they were done, they went out into the yard, and began walking towards the pond. They got to the pond, and they sat down by a big willow tree – Ron and Hermione up against the tree's trunk, and Harry and Ginny laying down in the grass.

'Ginny, thanks for understanding', Hermione said.

'It's alright, Hermione,' Ginny replied, 'If it were my parents, I would want to leave a soon as possible'.

'Do you know where your parents are Hermione?' Ginny asked.

'I know that the plane I sent them on was heading for Sydney, but I don't know if they are still there. Why?' Hermione replied.

'Because I thought that if it were to take you a while to find them, then Harry and I could go somewhere before we go to Australia. That is, if you are still looking after my birthday…'

'Sure – that's fine with me', Hermione replied. 'Just as long as I Ron with me'. At this, Ron blushed severely, while Hermione pulled him down and kissed him. Sensing that they wanted to be alone, Harry and Ginny got up and began walking around the pond. They settled on the far side of another willow tree on the other side of the pond – so they couldn't see Ron and Hermione, and Ron and Hermione couldn't see them…

'Where were you thinking of going?' Harry asked softly.

'I don't know', Ginny said. 'Do you think we could go to France? I bet Fleur could ask her family if we could use their cottage.'

'That sounds awesome', Harry said. 'Just so long as you're with me'.

This definitely earned Harry a kiss…or two…or many minutes worth. They were still laying together in the long grass one hour later, when Ron and Hermione came over to them – right in the middle of a very long and passionate kiss…

'Oi!' Ron said, loudly.

Despite of what Ron did, Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she watched Harry and Ginny pull away from each other, looking up at Ron and Hermione. Harry only looked slightly flushed – while Ginny just looked angry. So Hermione's grin quickly faded.

'What do you want?' Ginny said loudly, clearly stating she was ticked off.

'I don't want to come over here to find my little sister snogging my best friend like there's no tomorrow!' Ron said.

'We've been through this before!' Ginny said. 'It's none of your business who I snog, or when I do. I don't go interrupting you and Hermione! Now what do you want!'

'George is here', Ron said.

With that, George around the tree, and looked at his sister leaning on Harry with a big smile.

'Ginny, Harry, looks like I don't need to ask how it's going. Appears to be going great, by the look of you!'

George gave them a big wink.

'It's alright', George said. 'I won't rat you out to mom. Besides, at least I didn't walk in on you. Ron and Hermione were going quite well 'till I wolf-whistled. Ron nearly punched me in the face', he said, turning back to them. While Harry and Ginny laughed, Ron mumbled something that sounded very much like, 'Haven't cancelled it out'.

'What's that, little brother?' George said.

'Nothing', Ron said. 'Why are you here?'

'Thought I'd stop by. Plus, I have a lady friend here today too. Only, she and I don't go snogging in front of family…' George said to Ron and Hermione, who's cheeks turned about as red as Ron's hair.

'I'm joking! Don't worry! Like Ginny said, it's none of my business', George said.

'Who's here with you, George?' Ginny asked.

'Angelina Johnson', George replied.

'No way!' Harry said. 'From the Quidditch team?'

'Yes, from the Quidditch team', George replied, 'Now mom told me to bring you lot back to the house. Come on then!'

They walked back to the house, while conversing only slightly, after the awkward encounter, only minutes before.

'Where did you and Angelina meet, George?' Ginny asked.

'She was strolling down Diagon Alley while I was working on the exterior, and stopped by. I then asked her out for lunch, and we kicked off from there – if you must know', George replied (though Harry knew that if Ron asked, he would have said 'none of you business').

During dinner, Angelina proved that she and George were perfect for each other (possibly because she and Fred once dated – and George and Fred were identical).

The evening passed very pleasantly, and Mr. Weasley arrived at around seven o'clock, apologising that he was late, yet again. But he did say,

'There is so much work to be done within the Ministry now that Voldemort and the Death Eaters are gone'.

At around nine o'clock, George and Angelina departed from the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley very glad that George found someone, and got over the death of Fred. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went up to bed shortly after. By ten o'clock, it was just Harry and Ginny in the sitting room of the Burrow, cuddled up in a reclining chair in a dark corner of the room.

'I'm really glad George got together with Angelina', Ginny said, 'She's really nice, and will do George some good to get over Fred'.

'Yeah', Harry said, 'They look good together'.

They sat like that for some – just enjoying each other's company. Until, about ten minutes later,

'Ginny', Harry whispered.

'Yeah, Harry?' Ginny said, barely above a whisper.

'I'd like to go check out my grandparents' place sometime tomorrow. Would you like to come?'

'Anything for you, Harry', Ginny said.

'Thank-you, love', Harry said.

After that, they kissed for some time, until they finally decided that they'd better get to bed. After giving Ginny a long, loving, goodnight kiss, Harry proceeded to the second highest floor of the Burrow, to Bill's old bedroom, that he now occupied. He was asleep in minutes, and had a nice long, restful sleep, and for the first time since returning to the Burrow – nightmare free.

The hot, morning sun poured through the windows of Bill's old bedroom as Harry was awoken by a light tapping on the door.

'It's open', Harry called.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked in the door. Ginny sat down in the middle of the bed next to Harry, and leaned down for a very quick, good-morning kiss, while Ron looked away pretending that it never happened, and they sat down on some old boxes in the room.

'Ginny told us you wanted to go to your grandparents' place today, Harry', Hermione said.

'Yeah', Harry said, after remembering what they were talking about. 'Did you two want to come?'

'Sure', Ron said, 'We'd be glad to'.

'Well', Hermione said, 'We'll be going down to breakfast. Coming, Ron?'

'Oh', Ron said, looking at Ginny rub Harry's chest, 'Yeah'.

Ron stood up, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

'Today should be interesting', Ginny said.

'Yeah, should prove to be. Did you sleep well?' Harry asked.

'Yes', Ginny said.

Harry, noticing that Ginny was waiting for him to invite her down onto his bed, said,

'How about I properly say good-morning?'

'There's that silver-lining again', Ginny said softly, and laughed as Harry pulled her down onto his bed, and they kissed, in the same fashion as on Harry's seventeenth birthday.

Meanwhile, out in the hall, Ron shut the door, and looked over at Hermione, who was trying hard not to burst out laughing.

'What is it this time?' Ron said, half-jokingly.

'You have to get over that Ginny's with Harry. If there is anyone who is going to treat her well, it's Harry! So stop trying to interfere with them! I saw you looking at Ginny rubbing Harry's chest! If Harry were untrustworthy, then it would have been the other way around…if you know what I mean', Hermione said, she too, half-jokingly.

Ron, a bit puzzled by Hermione's outburst, heard Ginny laugh from in the room, and Harry laugh with her, then heard the bedframe squeak, and someone land on the bed…

_'There they go, snogging again'_, were the thoughts in Ron's mind.

Hermione noticed the look of disgust on Ron's face, and she listened too, and realised what was going on the other side of the door.

'Well', Hermione said, 'Looks like I'll have to distract you', pulling Ron up to her, and they too, kissed for several moments.

'Better?' Hermione asked.

'Definitely', Ron whispered, and pecked her on the lips once more, before joining hands and walking downstairs.

In Bill's old room, about one minute after they began kissing, they heard the sound Hermione pull Ron up to him, and lips going against each other.

'We can do better than that', Ginny whispered, pulling Harry to his feet, who, in return, dipped Ginny, and them continued kissing for a minute, and came up laughing.

Ginny said she would wait in the hall while Harry got dressed, and when he walked out of the room a few minutes later, he found Ginny deep in thought.

'What is it, Ginny?' Harry asked.

Ginny looked up at him, and answered,

'I think we need to stop being so secretive in front of Mum and Dad. You know, give them signs that we're together. They should know anyway', Ginny said.

'Alright, sounds fair enough', Harry replied. 'How do you want me to act?'

'I don't know', Ginny said, 'Maybe call me 'Gin' around them. Hold my hand. On the couch, I'll lean up against you'.

So Harry reached out and grabbed Ginny's hand. They proceeded down the stairs, when they finally made it to the last stretch of stairs, Ginny said,

'Well, here goes nothing!'

They laughed, and by the time they got down the stairs and entered the kitchen, it was obvious that one of them had said something. Mrs. Weasley couldn't help but daydream…

_'Look at that, they're holding hands, and laughing together. They're definitely a couple. Oh! This is so great!'_

'Morning, Mom', Ginny said.

'Good morning, Mrs. Weasley', Harry said.

'Oh!' Mrs. Weasley said, 'Do you really have to call me and Arthur 'Mr. and Mrs. Weasley'! We've known each other more seven years, surly you can call us Molly and Arthur!'

Taken aback by this, Harry couldn't help but hide his puzzled look.

'Er', he said, 'Alright. But that'll take some getting used to', he admitted. Looking at her face, he added into his remark, 'Molly'. She smiled now, and welcomed them to the table. They sat side by side, once again, and they were now holding hands not under the table – but on each other's laps.

'Anything new in the Prophet, Mr. Weas…Arthur?' Harry asked.

Arthur smiled at being called Arthur, and said,

'Nothing major, they're just still rounding up the Death Eaters, is all', Arthur replied.

'Who have they caught so far?' Ron asked from the other side of the table.

'Says they've only managed to find Rockwood, who was up in a cave near Hogsmeade'.

'So', Mrs. Weasley said, what are you lot up to today?'

'Well', Harry said, 'We haven't told you yet, but when Ginny and I went into Gringotts on Tuesday, we found out that there was a second vault in my possession, that used to be Ignotus Peverell's, who I'm the descendant of, and my parents put stuff in there, and there was a key to a property I now own, which is just outside of Godric's Hollow, which belonged to my grandparents. So we planned on checking that out today'.

Molly and Arthur both looked shocked when the found out that Harry owned a property.

'How are you going to get there?' Molly asked.

'Well', Harry began, 'I guess, since Hermione and I have been to Godric's Hollow, we can take Ron and Ginny to the town centre by side-along Apparation, then we can walk to the place from there'.

Molly waved her wand, and breakfast moved from the kitchen to the dining room table, and they all gratefully began eating.

The rest of breakfast was uneventful, and once they were done, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione walked up the stairs to get dressed. Harry took his wand from the bedside table, and put it in an inner-pocket of his jacket, tried to comb his hair (and failed), and walked out of the room, and down to the first landing to wait outside of Ginny's room.

As Harry was waiting, Molly came walking up the stairs, likely to go and get dressed.

'Oh! Hello, Harry. What are you doing?'

'Just waiting for Ginny', Harry replied, remembering that Ginny wanted her parents to realise that they were dating.

'Aright', Molly replied. 'If I don't see you lot before you leave, have fun, and good luck'.

'Thanks Molly', Harry replied, 'We'll definitely be back for dinner. But likely not for lunch'.

'Okay', she said. 'Just don't starve yourselves'.

'Yes, Molly', Harry said.

With that, Ginny came out of her room, and Molly bid goodbye to her daughter, and began to continue walking up the stairs. Loudly enough so she could still hear, Harry said,

'Ready to go, Gin', then he winked at her, then reached for her hand. They walked down the stairs and waited for Ron and Hermione in the kitchen, who came one minute later.

'All set?' Ron asked.

'Let's go', Harry said.

They walked outside into the yard, and Hermione grabbed Ron's hand, and Harry grabbed Ginny's and together, they went into darkness.

**Author's Note: Thought I'd stop there. This was a fairly short chapter - sorry about that. If I were to include what happened in Godric's Hollow, then this chapter wouldn't be up on the web for a while. **

**Feedback would be helpful.**


	7. 14247, Godric's Lane - Part I

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but family and farming got in the way of my writing. Enjoy!**

Chapter Seven

**_14247, Godric's Lane – Part I_**

After near suffocation, Harry and Ginny's feet landed hard on the ground in the town square of Godric's Hollow before the war memorial that changed into a statue of a baby boy without a lightning bolt shaped scar and his parents, with Ron and Hermione feet from them. They stood staring at the statue for over a minute. Even though the statue was made of stone, it was still easy to tell that the baby looked just like his father, who was standing behind him with an arm around his wife, who was carrying the baby in her arms, and had precisely the same eyes as the infant.

'It's beautiful', was all Ginny was able to say.

They continued to look up at the statue for a few minutes. While Ron, Hermione, and Ginny stared mainly at the baby version of Harry, Harry looked at his mother and father. They looked the same in the statue as they did in the forest – only made of stone.

'I'd like to see my parents' graves', Harry said to them. Seeing his parents in the statue had really made him long to see them. Going to their graves would help with that – knowing that their bones were feet below him.

They walked through the village towards the old church, and into the graveyard behind. The streets of Godric's Hollow weren't terribly busy, but there was still some people out for morning walks, or bites to eat. It looked as if a war had never happened. Everyone looked _happy._

Harry and Hermione now knew where his parents' graves were, so it didn't take very long to find them. The wreath that Hermione had made at Christmas was still lying there – looking as though it had been placed there earlier that morning. As Harry approached the stone, he began to read,

_James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981_

_The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death._

Harry still had a hard time understanding what the inscription under his parents' names meant. Harry desperately wanted to say something to them; the words would sit at the very tip of his tongue, but they would escape his lips. Harry could hear Hermione explaining to Ron and Ginny what 'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death' means – but Harry wasn't paying any attention to them. He barely noticed that he was still holding Ginny's hand. It was unreal to him that his parents' bones – or even ashes by now were lying feet below him. This was, physically, the closest that he'd been to them in sixteen years. Although Harry didn't deny that they were always a part of his heart and soul, being there, in the graveyard, before their tombstones, was, unreal. All that Harry was able to say, was, in a whisper, 'We did it. Thank-you.'

After many minutes of looking at the stone and thinking, Harry waved his wand, and flowers came out. Harry reached out his other hand, and grabbed the flowers and placed them on the ground next to the wreath.

'Let's go', Harry said.

They exited graveyard, and went back out onto the streets of Godric's Hollow. Cottages on either side of the road, and children playing in their yards and out in the street. Harry was leading them to the site of where his parents' cottage was. As they walked through the streets with the bright morning sun shining down on them, Harry swore that he recalled his mother carrying him through these very streets as an infant. Unless it was just his imagination…

Before Harry knew it, they were standing before a cottage that, unless you looked at the left side of the top floor, seemed perfectly normal. However, if you looked closer, you could see holes in the walls throughout the building, vines running along the walls. Hermione touched the gate, and sure enough, there was the sign popping out of the ground. They all read.

_On this spot, on the night of 31 October, 1981,_

_Lily and James Potter lost their lives._

_Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever _

_to have survived the Killing Curse._

_This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left_

_in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters_

_and as a reminder of the violence_

_that tore apart their family._

By the end of this, Harry had tears in his eyes, and he was quite sure that Ginny and Hermione did as well. Ron, well, he was determined not to tear up – he merely comforted Hermione. Harry read the signatures on the wood, and what people had wrote next to their signatures. Harry felt very overwhelmed by all of the things people had said, but he was forced to wonder how many of the people who said nice things on the wood, would come to dislike him while he was at Hogwarts – or how many ended up being Snatchers, or even Death Eaters.

Harry longed for more. Without warning, Harry opened the gate.

'Harry, wait!' Hermione said. 'It could be dangerous'.

'It's alright, Hermione', Ginny said, catching up with Harry now. 'You don't have to come'.

However, Hermione, despite her knowing that it could be very dangerous, walked up with Ron (if she didn't, she would basically be implying that she shouldn't be a Gryffindor). The grass was long – but no higher than about six inches – highly surprising to Harry. If nature had it their way, the grass would be a few feet high, with weeds growing. But the grass remained six inches and pure. 'Must have something to do with the magic', Harry thought. They reached the front door, and Harry placed his hand on the door knob and turned – but it wouldn't budge.

'_Alorahemora!' _Hermione tried, but nothing happened. They stood staring for several moments, unsure of what to do. After about a minute, Harry had a thought,

'Wait', Harry said. 'Let me try this: My name is Harry James Potter, son of Lily and James Potter'.

At that, the door opened as soon as Harry placed a hand on it. Harry began to walk towards the door, but Hermione spook first, in a worrisome voice.

'We better hold hands at first'.

Nodding, Harry reached out for Ginny's hand, who reached for Hermione's, who reached for Ron's. They walked into the entrance of the house, where a staircase stood in front of them, with a hallway on the left of that, and to their immediate left was the sitting room. Then to their right, was a dining room. Once they all made their way into the lobby, Hermione loosened her grip on Ginny – showing that there was no need for them to be in contact with Harry anymore; but that didn't stop Ginny.

They made their way into the sitting room, and there, on top of a thick layer of dust, _his father's wand. _Harry just looked at it for several moments.

'Harry', Ginny said, 'What is it?'

Harry just kept looking at the wand sitting on the couch. Ginny followed his line of vision to the wand, and she too, just kept staring.

'Your father's?' Ginny asked quietly after countless moments.

Harry just nodded. Finally, he found the strength to get his voice back.

'The last thing that wand ever did was amuse me. On Halloween night, my dad and I were sitting on that couch, and he was making puffs of purple smoke come out of his wand, and I was trying to catch the smoke. Then he came. Dad didn't even pick up his wand. He just stood up and blocked him from the staircase. He killed him right there. Dad didn't even defend himself. He just stood there'.

Harry and Ginny both had tears in their eyes (Ron and Hermione had gone right into the dining room). Ginny hugged Harry as to comfort him. Harry didn't loosen his grip on her; he hugged her, and cried into her shoulder. When they finally broke apart, Harry went over and grabbed his dad's wand, and put in his jacket pocket. It was about the same length as Harry's, them being about the same size, and they both had the same stiffness.

Harry looked around the room; there were many picture on the walls; of Harry, of he and his parents, of his parents, the Marauders, all of them together, and who Harry thought must be his grandparents.

Harry glanced at the corner of the room, and sure enough, there was his toy broomstick, laying on the ground, covered in dust. Harry, once again, just stood there staring at it. Harry remembered that he still, out of habit, was wearing the dragon hide pouch around his neck. He opened it up, and pulled out his mother's letter, and the picture of himself flying the broom, and his father chasing him. He stared at the picture, then glanced up at the actual broom in the corner.

Ginny walked over to Harry, and looked at the picture he was holding, then smiled sadly. She then noticed Harry look up, so she, again, followed his line of vision to the corner, where the broomstick lay.

'My mum sent this picture and letter to Sirius before she died, just after my first birthday', Harry told Ginny, then handed her the two parts of the letter and the picture. Ginny read through the letter, then looked at the picture once again. By the end, she again, had more tears in her eyes.

'You two have the same writing', she managed to get out, before giving Harry another comforting hug. A minute later, Harry looked back up at the room after releasing Ginny, and focused on the pictures on the wall.

'I think I'd like to have these in _Riverbank Fields_', Harry said. So he called Hermione, who came into the room minutes later.

'What is it, Harry?' she asked.

'Do you know how to magically transport things?' Harry asked.

'Yes, I've read the theory of it. It doesn't seem to be too difficult. Why, is there something here?' Hermione said.

Harry pointed around to the walls of the sitting room. Hermione had a few tears in her eyes.

'There is also this', Harry said, picking up the toy broom from the corner.

Hermione gasped. 'Is that same as in the letter?'

'Yes', Harry said quietly. 'Can you please send them to Riverbank Fields?'

'Yes, sure, Harry', Hermione replied.

They worked together to carefully remove the pictures from the wall, then placed them in a row on the floor, with the broom next to all of them. Hermione whispered the incantation, and the pictures, one by one, vanished into thin air, and finally the broom, and the room was bare except for the furniture, which still had a fair amount of dust on them.

They began to move closer to the back of the house. Behind the sitting room was a bathroom, which had nothing to great importance to Harry. In the back right of the house was a fairly large kitchen. Harry saw in a cabinet that there was china. He presumed that they were his parents' wedding china, so he asked Hermione to transport them to Riverbank Fields as well, which she did happily. They made their way back to the front of the house into the dining room, which held a rather large table, and pictures on the walls, which Hermione also transported. They went into the lobby again, and began to climb the stairs.

They had to take extra-precaution while climbing on the stairs, because of what happened just meters away sixteen years ago. When they were almost at the top of the stairs, Harry stopped; he was beginning to have second thoughts on coming up here. He couldn't move. He and his two closest friends, and his girlfriend, were about to walk right past, if not right into the place where his mother lost her life, and where he should have died. Before he could pursue these thoughts any longer, he felt Ginny's hand leave his own, he was about to protest, but then he realised that she was putting her arm around him, in attempt to give him comfort. Strangely enough, that gave Harry lots of comfort, and encouragement, so they continued walking, turning to the right once they reached the top. Harry, who now had his arm around Ginny, couldn't help but look back towards the nursery. That room was where he got the lightning bolt scar. His free hand found its way towards his forehead, and he felt the scar, that no longer burned or seared in pain.

They continued walking until they reached the end of the hall, and the door to left was a bathroom, but Harry didn't feel he needed to go in there, so he reached out his hand, and turned the doorknob the right, and walked into his parents' bedroom. This room wasn't damaged very badly; just very shaken, and everything had a thick layer of dust cover its surface. In the middle of the room, was their bed, and on either side was bedside tables. Opposite of the bed, was their dresser, which on top had a few pictures of James and Lily, and some other decorations.

Harry walked over to the first bedside table, and saw another picture of his parents, but he also saw some jewelry that wasn't be worn. Harry assumed that this was his mother's side of the bed. He opened the only drawer in the bedside table, and there, sitting on top of some other things, was _his mother's wand_. Harry picked it up, and placed it in the same pocket that held his father's wand.

_Why didn't she have the wand with her_? Harry thought. _That means that both my mom and dad didn't have any way of magically defending themselves against Voldemort_.

Harry walked over to the dresser, where Hermione was reading something that was placed on the top. However, Harry wasn't really paying any attention to what she was doing – he was in his own world right now…he didn't even notice that he had let go of Ginny.

Harry picked up a picture of himself, his parents, and the rest of the Marauders that was sitting on dresser. All of them looked happy. It looked as though it was a hot day in spring; so Harry hadn't turned one yet. However, Harry couldn't help but think that one person in the picture was out of place.

Peter Pettigrew was faking a smile, and wasn't waving up at the picture. Even though all of the others in the pictures were wearing short sleeves, and not heavy robes, Wormtail still was wearing full robes…_To cover up his Dark Mark_, Harry thought. He pocketed the picture, making a mental note to ask Hermione how to get certain people of pictures.

'Harry', Hermione said quietly.

Harry looked up from another picture he was looking at.

'Do you remember the letter your mother wrote to Sirius you found last year?' Harry nodded. 'Well, I've found Sirius's reply,' Hermione said to him, holding out the short piece of parchment she had been reading.

The letter read as follows:

_ Dear Lily and Prongs,_

_I'm also sad that I couldn't be there for Harry's birthday. I feel really bad considering I'm his godfather! Give Harry a hug for me. _

_Prongs, I can't imagine what you must be feeling like, all cooped up inside all the time, and especially since Dumbledore took your cloak. I'll try to come out as soon as I can – but with the way things are now, I don't know how long that will be. _

_I'm glad Harry liked his new broom – it looked like he was having a blast on it in the picture! I can't wait, and Prongs, I'm sure you can't wait until Harry can ride an actual broom. Seeing as he looks like you (except for his eyes – I'll give you that, Lily), I'm sure he'll turn out to be one hell of a Seeker!_

_I'm in hiding still. Bored as ever. Moony came by the other day, he said the last full moon wasn't a great one. It's too bad we can't all go with him like we used to! Those nights were awesome!_

_That's all I'll say for now, give Harry my love – and Prongs, although this contradicts the attitude I've ever had before…STAY WITHIN THE FIDILIAS CHARM AT ALL TIMES! It's far too dangerous now. You know that coming from me, that it really is dangerous._

_ Stay safe,_

_ Love, _

_ Sirius._

Harry finished reading the letter, and was again on the verge of tears. However, not wanting to cry in front of Ginny at the small_er _things, he held them back.

They finished going through the bedroom, having Hermione transport anything Harry wanted to keep to his grandparents' place just a few miles away. They walked out of the bedroom, and as they approached the stairs, Harry couldn't help but notice that the door to the nursery was slightly ajar. Even though his emotions told him that he couldn't handle it, his 'Gryffindor-ness' told him to walk over to the door, and open it….so he did.

'Harry, no', he heard Hermione say. Like Harry did upon entering the house, Harry ignored her. Harry was personally surprised that there was any door to open. He thought that the effects of the rebounding Killing Curse would have destroyed it. However, the door was severely burned, and reminded him of the doors in the Shrieking Shack.

As he pushed the door open and looked into the room, he dared not step any further. It looked as though the floor would give away at the slightest of movement or weight, and most of the walls had been blown away, while there were parts of the roof that had collapsed, and other parts that had been blown away also.

There, however, hanging from a small piece of roof, was a string, and attached to the string about two feet down, was an owl. Not a real owl – a stuffed owl that was about a third the size of a real one, and was made to resemble a snowy owl. There, upon the owl's chest in golden letters, was the name _Hedwig_. Harry couldn't help but tear up. The owl that he had owned for seven years had the same name as his stuffed animal as a child. Even though Harry got the name from his _History of Magic _book, he couldn't help but believe that the name popped out at him for this reason…

'Accio, Hedwig,' Harry said, after he had rid the tears from his eyes.

The stuffed owl untied itself from the string and flew over to Harry, who caught the owl, and stared at it. That was the owl that helped him fall into an easy sleep every night as a baby. That was the owl that he would see first, every morning.

Instead of asking Hermione to transport the owl to _Riverbank Fields_, he put the owl carefully in the pocket that also bestowed his parents' wands.

_This owl play a very important part of my life with my parents, and with the Dursleys. I'm not just going to put it with all of the other stuff I've found. It represents hope._

Harry turned around and looked back down the corridor, putting his arm back around Ginny. Harry felt that if he hadn't come back to his first home, there wouldn't be enough closure. Coming back to this cottage, heck, to that very room made Harry feel as though his New Beginning truly began. That was the room were Lily lost her life for Harry, beginning Harry's dark future. As they moved towards the stairs, Harry couldn't help but feel as though his New Beginning was really Beginning, and he knew, although it wouldn't be official for many years now, that it would include Ginny. Now that he thought about it, Ginny looked very much like Lily.

Harry walked away from the room – not looking back – and never every wanting to again.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I apologize for the delay, but some family things came up, and me living on a farm in Southwestern Ontario, there's lots of farm work that needs to be done now! I realize that I did repeat some concepts in the last paragraph/sentence; but I did that for a very specific reason: I think that the whole idea of 'leaving the nursery and not looking back' is very symbolic for the reason that in the nursery, Harry got his Scar, which is the symbol of his parents' death, Voldemort, and a Dark future (now, past). So not looking back at the nursery means that Harry wants to begin his new future (with Ginny), and to make it better than the past that he's had. A New Beginning and Era has begun – but who's to say that something else will pop up in the wizarding world…I'm not one to spoil though. **

**I was going to make this chapter all one part, but as I was writing the end of the final paragraph, I felt it would be wrong not to end this part there (also – end of era – end of part).**

**Anyway, hope you didn't have to think _too _much there – after all, it's summer! **

**Feedback would be great!**


	8. 14247, Godric's Lane - Part II

Chapter Eight

**_14247, Godric's Lane – Part II_**

Two Weasleys, a Granger, and the last surviving Potter, walked through the streets of Godric's Hollow in silence, trying to cope with everything they just saw.

Harry had just walked through the very corridors, and in the very rooms that he and his parents once live happy lives. And now, Harry has completely walked away from it, never wishing to see the inside of that house again. Some might find Harry's decision strange, seeing that he never wanted himself to become a part of his and his parents' only house together ever again – but Harry didn't think he could bare – emotionally – the pain and everything that would come to him in the home. Yes – Harry did feel as though he could still call the place home, however.

The sun was shining brightly upon Godric's Hollow now, and as Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione walked through the streets, watching children play _with their parents_ (Harry thought), and their friends, they couldn't help but let a smile escape their lips.

'Any idea of how to get to the place?' Ron asked.

Harry could only shake his head in response, as he pulled the letter out of his neck pouch.

_That key can get you into your grandparents' property and house, on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow. This house has been magically protected with the Fidilius Charm, so now, you are to become Secret Keeper. This is the address of your property:_

_14247, Godric's Lane_

That is all the letter said as to where the property was.

'Well,' Harry started, 'We'll have to ask someone then, where 'Godric's Lane' is. Any ideas of where to start?'

There was silence. They looked around the square that they had found themselves back in, and tried to spot out anyone who looked as if they might be a witch or wizard. A few minutes later, they were in luck.

'Look!' Ginny nearly yelled. 'Over there,' she pointed, 'By that General Store!'

Sure enough, there was a wizard who looked to be in about his mid-forties, who was wearing, despite the weather, full robes…only those in the wizarding world would do such a thing.

The man appeared to be looking at one of the advertisements in the window of the store, so they approached the man.

'Excuse me, sir,' Harry began trying to get the man's attention.

He looked around at them, partially startled, and he took one look at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and he knew exactly who they were. Harry feared this – attention was the last thing he wanted today.

'Mr. Potter! What an honour, privilege, and a pleasure it is to meet you! What can I do the honours of today?' The man said, shaking all of their hands enthusiastically.

'Er, thank-you, sir. Um, actually, we were wondering if you could give us directions, to Godric's Lane, we're visiting something there', Harry replied, hoping not to give away too much information about the place.

'Of course!' the man replied happily, 'Er, the fastest way…' he said talking to himself, before Harry. 'I think the best way is to go to the other side of the square, and you see the road there, called 'Mandola Street'?' Harry nodded, after looking. 'Well, take that road down to the end. You'll notice that the same road just curves and turns left, well, after that curve, the road becomes 'Godric's Lane'. Alright!' the man said.

'Yes, and thank-you sir, pleasure meeting you'.

'Ah, Mr. Potter, the pleasure is all mine. Thank-you for everything you've done for the Wizarding World! Giving you directions is the very, very least I can do!'

With that, they turned, and headed to the other end of the village square. Harry could feel a certain amount of eyes on him, but he just kept his arm around Ginny, and continued on their way.

The square was relatively busy – and lunch hour was approaching quickly. However, Harry couldn't walk ten feet without being stopped by someone saying, 'Thank-you, Mr. Potter! Welcome home!' or anything else of that sort. After only making a quarter of the way through the square in four minutes, they decided to cast a Disillusion Charm over them in an abandon alley. After which, they were able to make it across the square very quickly.

The road out of the village continued, with houses surrounding them, then the road turned, and there was a sign on the curb them said, _'Godric's Lane'._ They walked along that road for a while, until they reached a forest, with trees on either side of a path, which was big enough for about two average sized adults to lay down across the width.

The path continued for another kilometer or so, and when they exited the bush, there were fields on either side of a grassy lane, with the sun shining down upon them. They continued their walk for another five minutes or so, after a few more fields had passed, and they were again, in a path with trees and brush on either side of them. The trees were very tall, and this reminded Harry of the Forbidden Forest, on it didn't have a very scary effect – he would give the Dark Forest that.

When they emerged from the bush a few minutes later, they were was, surprisingly enough, a grassy lane, that lead up towards a decently sized house. There, on a pole, said:

_14247, Godric's Lane_

Harry looked at the sign for a few moments, still holding onto Ginny, then looked up at the house. It was a two story home, with a porch in the front of building, and two windows on either side of the door, and four windows on the top floor. Above the door, were the words:

_Riverbank Fields_

The house had tan coloured bricks, and a shingle roof, with three dormers coming off of the top, where the attic would be.

On the front lawn, was very green, perfectly sized grass, and some trees. Next to the lane, was a rather large, very beautiful rock, that had words carved into it very clearly, and large:

_RIVERBANK FIELDS_

_HOME OF THE POTTERS_

_SINCE 1754_

'Harry, Ginny, could you two maybe fill us in on what it is you're looking at? All I see is a sign that says _'Riverbank Fields' _in front more forest. I think we're missing something here,' Ron said.

'No,' Ginny began, 'There is the house, and everything. Don't you see it?'

Ron and Hermione looked puzzled. Though, Harry wasn't listening, he was looking at his ancestors property – now his own. He could see a pond in the yonder, and Quidditch hoops above a large clearing, and far in the distance, and forest. There was a small shed a bit behind the house, and to the side, and trees and gardens here and there. This place was amazing.

Hermione looked annoyed.

'We should be able to see this property. We know that address. We should be able to see more of then just a sign. I've read up on this stuff at Hogwarts. The law says….'

Harry stopped listening, and continued to look up at the property. However, he was getting slightly annoyed by Hermione rambling, and reached out his hand other hand, and took hers in his own.

'Of course,' Hermione whispered. Then spoke in a more audible voice, 'The Potters are a very old family, and surly they would want further protection for those were aren't a Potter then just the Fidilius Charm. Here, Ron, take my hand'.

Obviously, Hermione was able to see the property now, and Ron could also.

'Wait, Harry, let's just see what happens when you let of me and Ginny,' Hermione said.

Harry let go of Hermione, and, after getting a small nod of approval from Ginny, let go of her too.

'Why?' Harry asked her, finally saying something.

'Well, now that we've seen the property, we don't have to in physical contact with you anymore. We could walk right up to house right now. When your ancestors built this property, they didn't want their enemies to be able to just get in because they know the address. They wanted further protection and to be more secretive by making sure that a Potter lead them to this property,' Hermione said in one breath.

'Then why could you still see the sign?' Ginny asked.

'I think that we could because we knew the address,' Hermione answered after giving the matter some quick thought.

'How were you able to transport all of the stuff from the cottage, if Harry hadn't lead you here yet, then?' Ginny asked her.

Hermione didn't know how to answer this. Before she could say, for the first time Harry could every recall, 'I don't know', he saved her, and tried to answer with what he thought,

'Because cottage and this place have a connection. And since only a Potter could get into the cottage, I could apparate from there straight to here now that I know that it looks like. So you were able to move objects from the cottage, straight to here because of the connection'.

'Of course,' was all Hermione was able to say. Ron chuckled slighted, because that was the first time _he _could remember Harry knowing something about Charms that Hermione didn't.

'Well,' Harry began, 'I guess we can just go then'.

They began to walk further up the path towards the house, taking in everything that they could. They finally reached the front porch of the home, and Harry reached out his hand, and turned the doorknob of the front door…it opened as soon as his hand came in contact with it.

When the door stood ajar, Harry pushed it opened all the way, to reveal the front entrance of the home. There was a set of wooden stairs that went to the upper floor, and you could see the upper landing front the bottom. There were portraits on the walls of various members of the Potter family. However, many of them seemed to be asleep. There must have been fifteen portraits just throughout the front entrance and corridor. There was even a portrait of Ignotus Peverell, but it was empty.

'Harry,' Ginny said. But Harry didn't respond.

'Harry,' Ginny said, more softly – but Harry still didn't respond.

Harry was staring off into the distance – not paying any attention to what was going on around him. Ginny followed Harry's line of vision for what seemed like the thirtieth time that morning, to find four portraits. Harry was looking back and forth between them. There was an inscription beneath each portrait; the first two read as follows:

_ALEXANDER DUNCAN POTTER_

_LAYLA AMELIA POTTER_

_'Those must be my grandparents,' _Harry thought. _'They died fighting Voldemort. If it wasn't for that, they could've raised me when my parents died'._

Next to Layla's portrait, were the other two; the inscriptions read as follows:

_JAMES ALEXANDER POTTER_

_LILY NICHOLA POTTER_

Lily and James both woke up in their portraits as soon as they heard people walk into the entrance of the house. They were smiling widely at Harry; big, warm, and loving smiles. They were wearing regular robes. James walked to the edge of his portrait and disappeared.

'No, wait! Dad, come back!' Harry pleaded. He was crying.

'He'll come back,' Lily said. 'Harry, my son, you've been so brave. Welcome home. We've been waiting for you, my love'.

'Mum,' was all that was able to escape Harry's lips. He slowly walked towards his mother's portrait, and once he got there, he raised his hand, and touched his mother's, who's, in the portrait, was also reaching out.

'I love you, mum,' Harry finally got out. 'I've missed you. Where's dad?'

Harry didn't mean to be so straight forward, or anything – but he needed to see his father.

'He has gone to inform the others. He will be back right away, Harry. I love you too. You're father has been so longing to see you also. He's always saying how you have all of his stunning looks'.

Harry could only sadly smile.

'I have your eyes, mum,' Harry was able say. Lily smiled warmly at him.

'Who has her eyes?' came a voice from the portrait. James Potter walked into the frame next to Lily smiling broadly upon Harry.

'He always has to make an entrance,' Lily laughed.

'Harry, my son. I'm so proud of you. You've done so many amazing things for this world. I wish I were alive to thank you. But, this will have to do,' he said with a half-smile.

Harry stared up at his parents, who were holding hands in the portrait, who were staring back. He missed his parents so much. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to stay in front of them forever, or get out of there right away. He settled for somewhere in-between.

Harry turned around slowly, to only find Ginny with him – who he was still holding hands with. His face got a bit warm on the inside. Ron and Hermione must have gone off when Harry saw his parents.

'And Harry,' James began, 'Why don't you introduce me to your stunningly beautiful friend here. Miss'.

'James!' Lily said.

'Oh, come on, Lily dear! She looks like you!' James said.

Ginny's face had also turned a very dark shade of red.

'Er, this is Ginny Weasley. My girlfriend,' Harry said quickly.

'Ah,' James said with a smile, 'We were very close friends with the Weasleys. You must be the first daughter in generation, my dear. It's a pleasure to meet you'.

'Er, you too, sir. I'm Molly and Arthur's daughter'.

'Ah, yes, they were in the year above us in Gryffindor. I remember Arthur always tried to smuggle Muggle stuff into his dorm so that he could mess with it,' Lily said.

Ginny smiled.

'Yes, that sounds like my dad'.

They continued to talk quietly for a while, and after ten minutes of just the four of them, Harry's grandparents came into the frame. Others tried to come, but James and his father shewed them away, because it would've been far too overwhelming for Harry. Half an hour later, they were still talking about Harry's past, and of his parents' past.

'Well son,' James said, 'I think you should go explore this wonderful house. I grew up here. The Quidditch pitch is amazing, my old broom is in the shed. Anyway, behave yourselves, you two, just because there aren't any portraits in the bedrooms, doesn't mean we can't hear everything!'

'Oh! James!' Lily said, smacking James, who was laughing hard, on the arm. 'He's lying. But still; I don't expect any grandchildren for several years, young man!'

Both Harry's and Ginny's cheeks turned such a dark colour of red, that they almost matched Ginny's hair. With the amount of heat coming off of them, you'd think they were on fire.

'Don't worry, mum. Will you still be here when we come back?' Harry asked.

'We'll always be here, Harry. We love you,' Lily said.

Harry didn't really want to leave his parents' portraits, but he did anyway – knowing that he would have the rest of his life to talk to them

Harry and Ginny found Ron and Hermione sitting around the large wooden dining room table. They were sitting close together, with their heads down talking quietly. Ginny made a small coughing sound, and Hermione nearly jumped right out of her chair. She was about to yell at them for sneaking up on them like that; but she knew that Harry had just been through a very emotional half-hour, so she restrained herself.

'Harry!' Hermione said, running towards him, embracing him in a hug. 'How was the talk with your parents?'

'Easy, Hermione! Let him breathe!' Ginny said, pulling Hermione off of Harry.

'It was fine. I don't really feel like talking about it, alright,' Harry said quietly, but firmly.

Hermione backed away, feel slightly embarrassed.

'We've looked around a bit Harry. This is one hell of a house. You should see the back yard, it's amazing!' Ron told Harry and Ginny.

Harry just simply nodded and began to walk around the dining room, and then to the kitchen that was attached. The kitchen was about twice the size of the Burrow's kitchen, Harry couldn't wait to show Mrs. Weas– Molly. It had a large island in the middle of it, and loads of storage. They moved onto the sitting room, which was next to the dining room. There were five couches, five chairs, and a few loveseats that stood before a large, beautiful, fireplace, with a stone chimney that reached up to the ceiling.

_'Excellent. This means there's plenty of room for all of the Weasleys and other company,' _Harry thought.

He had decided as soon as he found out that he owned a property that he wanted to have company over a lot. He ruled out even living in the Black House as soon as he got back to the Burrow – he felt that since that was the home that Sirius so hated, then he would respect that hate, and never go there again. Besides, who knows what traps the Death Eaters could've put up in there?

There was an ataman a few meters away from the fire place, and in the centre of the room, with little side tables beside the couches, chairs, and loveseats.

Harry stared at the room for a while. He could picture his own family sitting around the fire, having a good time.

They left the room, and saw a bathroom near the kitchen, and a den at the back of the house, on the opposite side of the house as the kitchen. Around the middle of the house, was another staircase that lead down into the cellar, that they found out was used for storage. There was nothing any importance down there.

They went back to the entrance, and as they passed Lily and James, James said,

'Harry, Ginny, remember what I said!'

'Oh, James! Shut-up!' Lily said to him laughing. 'Harry, who are these two? I believe more introductions are in order!'

'Yes, Harry,' James said, 'Introduce to this fine looking young women,' he added with a bow to Hermione.

Lily rolled her eyes, while Harry and Ginny laughed.

'This Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger,' Harry told them.

'Ah!' James said, 'Another Weasley! I think I recall reading about your birth in the prophet. And Hermione, what a beautiful name, my dear. However, I don't think I knew of any Grangers, do you, love?' James asked Lily.

'Sir,' Hermione, began, 'I'm a Muggle-born'.

'Oh,' James said. 'I have a way with Muggle-borns. And you can call James, my lady,' James said with a smirk on his face, and a glance at Lily, who again, rolled her eyes, while Harry and Ginny continued to laugh.

'Sorry, dad, she's taken,' Harry said, and nodded to Ron.

They continued on their way – Hermione looking very flushed – towards the large, wooden staircase to the upper floor.

Up there, they found a large landing, with some cabinets, pictures, portraits, and two chairs. They turned to the corridor on the left, which had a bedroom on each side, and a bathroom. All three rooms were a very decent size. They made their way back towards the landing, and made their way across it, getting a view over the railing of the entrance hall. In the other corridor was a guest room, a nursery, and the master bedroom that included an ensuite.

Harry and Ginny made their way into the master bedroom to explore, and Ron was about to follow, but Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back out into the hall. Although he didn't want to, Ron followed Hermione out onto the landing and they sat down in the chairs.

Harry and Ginny looked through the room as they had done with the others, and Ginny had a huge smile on her face.

'Harry, this is amazing! I mean absolutely incredible! When can we move in?'

Harry smiled.

'Slow down there, Miss Weasley. What do you think your parents, especially your mother would say if you and I just ran off and lived here without even being married? Not saying I wouldn't love to live here with you, but, we can wait,' Harry said with a smile.

Ginny stepped closer, to Harry so they were barely a foot apart, and said,

'I hate waiting'.

'Who said you could have the silver lining,' Harry whispered before Ginny began to kiss him. He kissed her back with the same level of enthusiasm. When they briefly broke apart about a minute later, Ginny said,

'Why should you get to hog it all the time, Potter?'

Harry laughed, picked Ginny up, who screamed in laughter, and Harry jumped onto the bed so that Ginny would land on top of him, and they embraced once again.

#####

Half an hour later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were wandering through the grounds of Riverbank Fields, enjoying each other's company (some more that others) and figuring out what there was.

They walked towards the broom shed, and sure enough, there was only one broom there. At the end of the wood, in silver letters, it read,

_NIMBUS 400_

Harry looked at it, picked it up, and carried out onto the field, where he mounted it, and flew it around the property. The birds-eye-view was amazing, and he could see that the forest at the back had a few clearings, where some hippogriffs were resting. There was a small barn in the back that held five owls, and had some more storage space. There was a pond and a creek that lead to the river that went through part of the lawn, and moved onto the forest.

He landed back in front of Ginny, Ron, and Hermione half an hour later, smiling. His dad's broom was amazing. He wouldn't use it at Hogwarts (should he make the team), because it wouldn't be fast enough, but he would still use it for joy riding, and to mess around on. The broom really seemed to understand him. _'Maybe because it was used to my dad, and I fly just like him?' _Harry thought with a smile.

'Harry!' Ginny said, running towards him and embracing him in a hug. 'You were up there a while, what did you see?'

'Well, there are some creatures in the forest in the back. The river is amazing, as well as the pond. There are some owls in the barn over there,' he pointed. 'This place is just amazing'.

'Wow!' Ginny said, 'But we had better go back to my mom's place – I mean head back home, it's nearly six o'clock!' She turned red part way through the sentence, and Harry just smiled, knowing what she was thinking – but Ron and Hermione didn't ponder on the mistake for more than two seconds.

'Really!' Harry said, amazed at how the time slipped away them. Alright. Let's walk to the gates'.

They made it back down the grassy lane, towards the gates. Before Harry apparated with Ginny, he knew that he would be back, and that he and Ginny would have a family here. He knew that he didn't want to leave the Burrow before Hogwarts, because he knew if he did, he would be living alone, and he would never want that.

He held Ginny's hand, and they apparated, both with huge smiles on their faces.

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was very hard to write the part with Lily and James. I've recently been reading a lot of fanfictions about Harry and Ginny after the battle, and about Lily and James. It was interesting to see what others thought life would be like in the respective times. **

**About the Harry/Ginny scene in the master bedroom…I know what you're thinking, you naughty people! Nothing more than snogging happened, to those of you who thought something more _risqué _happened.**

**I also know for a fact that James's middle name is Alexander, but other than that, I guessed at the names of Harry's grandparents, and Lily's middle name. Sometime in the near future, I will be posting a bunch facts that I've gathered about what happened after the Battle of Hogwarts, and it will all be according to J.K. Rowling! **

**Sorry for the delay, but I've been doing a lot of farm work lately – but the wheat is almost off! Then, I'll have to help out with getting everything put away, _then_ hopefully I'll be able to work on The New Beginning a bit more.**

**I realize that things have been going quite smoothly so far…too smooth. Don't get the impression that everything will be all soft and non-exciting. There will be more unnerving events that will take place really soon. I don't want to be the author of a story that is all soft 'everything is perfect'. Don't you worry…**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**If you have any questions, comments, ideas, or criticisms, I'd be glad to hear them.**

**Cheers, **

** – C **


	9. The Voices

**Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter. I've wanted to include it in the storyline for a long time. There was a question that I got in a review, it was a very interesting and good question, so I thought that I'd share the question/answer:**

**Question – _'Is James really such a perv?'_**

**Answer – I realize James was quite a bit, let's say, _bold_. In my mind, he wasn't at all trying to be a pervert; he was just putting on his 'charm'. This personality wasn't approved/said by J.K. Rowling, but I feel like James, and even Sirius just like to charm people and make them laugh; he wasn't trying to be perverted – and in my personal opinion, he wasn't being perverted – I think the right word would be _flirting_. _Fake-flirting _at that.**

**Also, I noticed that I made a mistake in the last chapter: Molly and Arthur would have been at least five years above Lily and James in Hogwarts, because Bill was born in 1972. Sorry about that – wasn't thinking logically.**

**Anyway – thanks for reviews, and enjoy this chapter…**

Chapter Nine

**_The Voices_**

Harry and Ginny arrived at the gate of the Burrow with a _'Pop!'_ They began to walk, still hand in hand, down the path that lead to the house. Ron and Hermione were about ten feet ahead of them, so Harry and Ginny just decided to slowly stroll towards the house. Harry took his hand away from Ginny's, and before she could protest, he placed his arm around her lower back, and continued walking as if nothing had happened, and Ginny followed suit.

Their walk up to the Burrow was relatively short and peaceful. Seeing as Ron and Hermione didn't bother so slow down, they were both already sitting at the table ready for supper when Harry and Ginny walked. Mrs. Weasley greeted them warmly with a loving hug.

'You alright, Harry?' she asked.

'Yes, I'm fine, thanks,' Harry replied.

'Well then, come on and tuck in. Dinner will be ready in a moment,' Mrs. Weasley told him.

'Thanks,' Harry said.

Harry and Ginny found their way to their usual spots at the table, and sat down, ready to devour their meal – as they hadn't ate anything since breakfast that morning, and it had been a very stressful day on Harry.

'So Harry, how was the property?' Mrs. Weasl– Molly asked.

Harry smiled.

'It's really nice. I think after Hogwarts I'm going to move in there. There is lots of room also. Quidditch Pitch in the back. It's really well protected. It has the Fidilius Charm over it, and another aspect of it that I'm not aware of. After all these years, the lawn and garden is still perfect, probably a charm was put on it. There are also portraits of all the people in the Potter family since 1754 – including mum and dad'.

Harry didn't know whether or not he should talk about his parents' portraits with others. But, then again, nothing they talked about was extremely emotional. Harry wondered if his parents' in the portraits know what happened in the Forest with the Resurrection Stone – because Harry felt like everything that was 'tear-worthy' happened then. In fact, his dad made Harry laugh and feel loved, and his mom was just very welcoming, warm, and loving.

'Really,' Molly said, not sure what to say on the subject.

Ginny sort of felt that Harry, despite what he thought of the conversation, was tensing up a bit. So before her mother could pursue the subject, she changed it,

'Will dad be home for supper?'

'No,' Molly replied, 'He has to work late again. Kingsley has been talking about making him Head of a new department he might create called 'The Muggle Society Cooperative Department'. I think, because of everything that happened in the Muggle world, they are in shock, but they don't know what even happened. So with this new department, it would be Arthur's job to make sure that everything in the Muggle World is going fine, and to, of course, keep the secrecy of our world. He will have to have regular meetings with the Muggle Minister, so that Kingsley will have more time to get the Ministry in order. It will sort of be a mix of his past two jobs. Kingsley wanted someone he could trust to be Head, so Arthur was picked. Anyway, he's very busy'.

Harry personally was really happy for Arthur, and glad that the new department was going to be put together.

Mrs. Weasley put the food on the table, and Harry began to eat right away. With two helpings of everything, and a generous helping of pudding for desert, he was on comfortably full.

'So, what do you lot have planned for the evening?' Molly asked.

Harry personally didn't know that anything was going on. But when Ron began to talk, he knew that something else must be happening.

'Er, George told me that he heard some Muggles talking about putting on a Firework show this evening in the village. I bet we could see those from here. Though, they won't be anything compared to George's'.

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione nodded and smiled in agreement.

##########

So at ten o'clock that evening, after Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had both gone to bed, Harry and Ginny were laying on a blanket with Ginny's head on Harry's chest, and Harry's arms around Ginny. Ron and Hermione were laying on a blanket a few feet away from them.

Ginny seemed fascinated to learn how muggle fireworks worked, so Hermione spent a great deal of time teaching her all the sciences of muggle fireworks. Ginny was shocked that it was so complicated, and that after all the effort, they didn't last long, or do more than pop into more lights. Whereas with wizard fireworks, the maker simply puts a charm on the fireworks, they can become just about any shape, and last about ten times longer. Harry was reminded of fifth year when Fred and George released all of those fireworks to annoy Umbridge. Harry laughed at the memory.

Before long, the fireworks began. There were yellow, blue, and pink lights. Harry was enjoying himself, cuddled up with Ginny under the bright stars and the fireworks. That night should have been one that was a happy memory, almost make-belief. But with Harry's luck, everything went horribly wrong…

The yellow, blue, and pink lights continued for some time, then, however, the lights became red and green. To most people, this would have looked beautiful – but for Harry, this didn't.

He began to shake. His eyes, however, still up on the sky.

'Harry, what's wrong? Harry? Harry! HARRY!'

He was shaking so violently now, that Ginny had to hold him to even reduce the amount of vibration she was feeling.

'No! Don't kill them! I'll do anything! MUM NO!'

Harry continued to yell out things similar to that. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione tried to get him to snap out of whatever was happening to him – they didn't know. Ginny had tears running down her face, as she tried to comfort Harry.

'Harry! Please; you're alright! You're right here, please!'

'Don't hurt them! I'll do anything! Take me! Ginny, NO!'

Ginny continued to shake Harry to get him to wake up from – well – whatever it was that he was experiencing…but it was no use. He would budge as he continued to fall deeper into his memories and nightmares, but his eyes remained on the sky.…

_He was watching Voldemort kill his mother, then turning to him, and then casting the same curse at him._

_ Lupin transforming into a werewolf, then attacking Sirius…_

_ Sirius body surrounded by Dementors, each taking a piece of him, until his soul hovered above his body…_

_ Watching Wormtail carry Voldemort into the graveyard, then kill Cedric…_

_ Wormtail slicing his arm off, then cutting Harry's arm…_

_ Voldemort rising out of the cauldron…_

_ Sirius falling through the Veil…_

_ Dumbledore drinking the potion on the island in the Cave…_

_ Snape casting the Killing Curse on Dumbledore – as he falls off of the Astronomy Tower…_

_ Death Eaters casting curse after curse at Ginny in the corridors of Hogwarts…_

_ Hedwig falling out of the sidecar – falling hundreds of thousands of feet toward the ground…_

_ Death Eaters showing up on Tottenham Court Road – casting curses at Ron and Hermione…_

_ The Dementors attacking the Muggleborns inside the Ministry…_

_ Ron laying there on the ground in the forest – just after getting splinched…_

_ Hermione's screams echoing down to the cellar of the Malfoy Manor, while Bellatrix cuts the word 'Mudblood' onto her arm…_

_ Bellatrix's dagger soaring towards Dobby…_

'RON! PICK HARRY UP! BRING HIM INSIDE!'

_Fred falling towards the ground – a laugh still etched on his face…_

_ Watching all the Weasleys yell out for him, as he lay in Hagrid's arms…_

_ Neville getting tortured by Voldemort…_

'RON, HURRY!'

_ Weasleys and his friends fighting off the Death Eaters in the Great Hall…_

_ Bellatrix's Killing Curse missing Ginny by mere centimeters…_

_ Soaring deeper and deeper towards the darkness…_

##########

Opening his eyes, Harry looked at his surroundings. Everything was fuzzy. He felt Ginny's soft hands place his glasses over his eyes. He was laying down on one of the couches in the sitting room of the Burrow; a blanket on top of him, and a pillow at his head. He slowly sat up – and struggled to remember what happened, and how he got where he was. He didn't remember walking inside to the sitting room. When he woke up, he thought he was still on the blanket with Ginny in his arms.

'Harry,' Ginny started worriedly, 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine. What happened? Where are the fireworks?' he asked.

'Well, we were just watching the fireworks,' Ginny began, 'you were fine, and everything, but then you, kind of started shaking, and yelling stuff. I thought you had fallen asleep, and had a nightmare, but your eyes were wide open, and still staring at the sky'.

Harry thought for a moment. What could have happened? Why did he act like that? That hadn't happened before. He was even having a good time, relaxing with Ginny. Then a thought came.

'What colours were the fireworks when I started shaking?' he asked.

'Well,' Hermione said, 'They started out as yellow, blue, and pink; then they became red and green. About fifteen seconds of that, Ginny called over in a panic, and we saw you shaking'.

That explained a lot for Harry. The memories were flooding back to him. The dread; and the fear. The two emotions he hated most. The latter wasn't the kind of fear as in fear of death, or of the sort, but fear of loss. He had experienced that too much for his, or likely anyone's liking.

'The red and green,' Harry said. 'Killing Curses. Stunners. Death'. That was all he was able to get out before he began to slightly vibrate. Ginny grabbed him and pulled him up against her. He slowly began to stop shaking, and clutched Ginny in his arms. Ginny seemed to understand what Harry was talking about, but Ron and Hermione still didn't quite get what was going on.

'Here, Harry,' Ginny said handing him something dark, 'Eat this. It should help'.

Harry took the chocolate from Ginny and began to nibble on it. A thought crossed his mind of Ginny caring for her children – their children.

'Er,' Ron said, 'could you perhaps tell us what happened?'

Ginny looked at Harry eating the chocolate. Harry looked back and nodded.

'Ron,' Ginny began, 'The red and green lights looked like stunning spells and killing curses. That brought back terrible memoires'.

'Death. Pain. Loss,' was all Harry was able to get out.

Harry ate the chocolate slowly, trying his very best to repress the memories he had just seen. He should have known something like this would happen. Surely he wouldn't've been able to _not _experience nightmares. He should have foreseen this…

'How long was I out?' Harry asked.

'Well, once we got inside,' Ginny said, 'your eyes shut, and you were asleep on the couch for about thirty minutes. I wanted to wake you, but Ron thought otherwise. It sounded like you were watching people die, and I wanted you to wake up,' she finished with a dirty look at Ron. Harry didn't say anything.

Harry sat there for a couple of minutes, not paying any attention to those around him. Just trying to close his mind. If only he could have learned Occumulency from Snape…

'Harry, are you sure you're alright?' Hermione asked.

Harry nodded – and appeared to convince both Ron and Hermione.

'Well then, Harry, I'm off to bed. Try to get a good sleep, alright,' Hermione said. 'Ron, coming?'

'What? Oh, er, yeah, Harry, hope you feel better in the morning. Night, Ginny,' Ron said. Harry was personally surprised at how Ron handled leaving Ginny alone with Harry at night. Hermione must have done something…

Harry and Ginny both nodded and said goodnight to Ron and Hermione; then Harry sat up, and Ginny sat down next to him.

'Please don't leave me tonight, Ginny,' Harry said.

'Of course Harry,' Ginny said.

'I just don't want to have nightmares. I don't ever want to be alone again. I hate being alone. Please'.

Ginny nodded, and pulled Harry towards her.

'You'll be alright, Harry. I'm here – always'.

This, above all things, made Harry feel safe. Before he knew it, his eyes were shut; Ginny still holding him in her arms – no dreams or nightmares.

'Harry. Harry'.

He opened his eyes, but all was still dark; inside and out. Ginny was leaning over him, her dark red hair flowing over her head and nearly touching Harry.

'We should move, Harry. Come on, let's go upstairs'.

He nodded, and Ginny held out her hand, and helped him get up off the couch. She led him up to her room on the first landing. She opened the door, and led Harry in. Ginny pulled the covers back, and motioned for Harry to lay down under the covers, and he did so. Ginny shut off the light, and climbed in next to Harry, and placed an arm around him.

'Good night, Harry'.

'Night, Ginny'.

'Get a good sleep, I'm here for you'.

'Thanks'.

With that, Harry shut his eyes, and tried to fall asleep, but it didn't come for about fifteen minutes, when he drifted off, with the thought in his mind that Ginny was there for him. Ginny, however, stayed awake until she was sure that Harry was in a deep sleep, when she finally closed her eyes – and drifted off.

##########

Ron woke up the next morning, the sun already well set above the grounds of the Burrow. His sleep wasn't very restful, as he continued to have the same nightmare – over and over again.

However, this nightmare wasn't all made up from his sleep-enveloped mind – this was more of a flashback that haunted him to this day, and likely would forever…

It a flashback of when Harry, Hermione, and himself were caught by Snatchers and brought to the Malfoy Manor, then him and Harry being brought to the cellar by Wormtail, and hearing Hermione's screams as a the effect of being tortured. It was a like he was the Seventh Circle of Hell when he was hearing Hermione's screams…

'Ron,' came the soft voice from the one he had just been thinking about from the other side of the door.

'It's open,' he replied to her.

Hermione opened the door, and walked into the room, giving Ron a quick peck on the cheek, before sitting down by his torso on his bed.

'How did you sleep?' she asked.

'Alright, I guess,' he replied, not wanting to reveal how his sleep really was. 'You?'

'The same,' she replied.

'Is Harry up yet?' Ron asked her.

'I don't think so, he wasn't down in the kitchen when I was there, and I didn't pass him in the hallway,' Hermione said.

'Must've been horrible for him to go through that last night. I feel terrible for suggesting us to go and watch the fireworks. I should've seen that coming,' Ron said, clearly mad at himself.

'You can't blame yourself Ron, or anyone except for Voldemort and his lot,' Hermione told him.

'Yeah, but I mean, he was doing so well. I mean, as far as we know, he wasn't have many nightmares or flashbacks. He was eating well, and everything. Now he's probably set back a couple months. To think that I only stopped sleeping with my wand in my hand a couple days ago. Now Harry will probably never take his hand off of the bloody thing,' Ron said.

'Don't worry Ron,' Hermione said, in a comforting manor. 'Ginny, and the two of us will be there for him. Anyway, your mum said that breakfast would be ready soon. I suppose that we should get Harry and Ginny up'.

'Alright, I'll be out in a minute,' Ron said.

Hermione then got up and went out into the hallway to wait for Ron to get ready for the day.

When he came out, he asked Hermione,

'Have you noticed anything different about Harry and Ginny?'

'Nothing too strange, why?'

'It's just, they're being so open, about, you know,' Ron said.

'I think they don't want to hide their relationship from your family. That way they aren't confined, or limited'.

'Is that what you want to do?' Ron asked.

'Doesn't really matter to me. But, we'll have to let your parents know really soon, otherwise it would just look odd with only you going to Australia with me,' Hermione replied.

'Well then, might was well start now then,' Ron said quickly.

They joined hands, and began to walk down the stairs.

They stopped on the next landing down, where Bill's old room was, and knocked on the door – but there was no answer, so the presumed that Harry was already up and going, so they continued down to Ginny's room, but the same results came, so they proceeded to the kitchen.

'Morning, Ron,' Mrs. Weasley said without looking up from the _Daily Prophet_. With colour of her face, it was clear that something was wrong.

'What's wrong, mum?' Ron asked his mother.

'Here, you read it,' she replied in disgust, throwing the paper down onto the table.

Ron picked up the newspaper, and began to read.

**_ROCKWOOD ESCAPES MINISTRY HOLDING CELL_**

**_ Ministry of Magic prisoner, Augustus Rockwood, former Death Eater, has escaped the holding cell within the Auror Department. While doing so, he managed to kill one guard, and seriously injure the other. It is unknown, when, or if the injured guard will make a recovery. _**

**_ Newly appointed Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt said this, 'The Auror Department is shocked that this has happened, and it is currently unknown as to how the Death Eater was able to escape the cell, that was given many different spells to hold the prisoner there. This will be thoroughly investigated, and we will try our very best to find out how Rockwood escaped, and where he is now, to try and capture him, along with any other Death Eater that may be with him'._**

**_ It is presumed that Rockwood has rejoined other Death Eaters. We will keep you posted from there._**

Ron looked furious. However, another headline caught his eyes,

**_DELORES UMBRIDGE SENT TO AZKABAN TO AWAIT TRIAL_**

**_Previous Ministry Official, Delores Umbridge, has been sent to Azkaban to await a trail in front of the full Wizengamot. She was charged with the offence of Supporting Death Eater Causes, including interrogating Muggleborns, and other breeds of the wizarding world, including Centaurs, Goblins, and House-Elves. _**

**_Even after the fall of He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Named, Umbridge still supported the Death Eater Causes strong, and attempted to do harm to the Minister and support staff, after a failed attempt for them to see her reason, however, she failed significantly._**

**_It is also rumored that Umbridge is guilty of torturing both those of age, and _under _age. When Umbridge was the Hogwarts High Inquisitor, and later, Headmistress, she would give innocent children detentions, and cause severe pain to the children. _**

_**It is rumoured that should the trial go as planned, then Umbridge will receive a life-time sentence to Azkaban**. _

This put Ron back into a better mood, but he was still mad about Rockwood's escape.

'It's about time that old hag got thrown away,' Ron said.

'Ron!' Mrs. Weasley said.

'What mum? It's true! That old hag tortured Harry back in fifth year when she was a, well, you can hardly call her one, but a professor. He still has scars! He just stayed quiet about it, because, well, you know how Harry hates attention!'

Mrs. Weasley looked shocked.

'Then there was the whole Muggleborn thing,' Ron said.

'Anyway, do you know where Harry and Ginny are? Breakfast is just about ready,' Mrs. Weasley said.

'We'll go look for them,' Hermione said.

'Thank-you dear,' Mrs. Weasley replied, with an attempt at a smile.

They walked out onto the grounds, but after quick search, and a couple of yells, they couldn't find them. So they went back up to Ginny's room, and knocked on the door – still no answer, so Ron opened it as quietly as he could.

He looked inside to see his best mate in the same bed as his little sister! He turned around and stormed out of the room.

Hermione looked at the scene inside her room for a few seconds, after studying the situation, she looked at Ron in disgust.

Ron looked furious.

'The second Harry moves, I'm going to curse his sorry as–'

'RON!' Hermione said. 'You didn't get a good look at them. They both still had all their clothes on from yesterday! Nothing happened. And do you think anything would've happened after what happened last night! Honesty! You have to trust them, Ron! Harry would probably rather get tortured then hurt Ginny! You don't see anyone else fussing over them!'

Ron looked back into the room and saw that they indeed still have all of their clothes on.

'But they were still sleeping together!' Ron said, still a bit angry. 'They've only been dating a couple weeks!'

'Ron, I'm sure Ginny just wanted to make sure that Harry didn't have any more nightmares or anything after what happened to him last night. It likely won't happen again for a while!' Hermione said.

'Just wake them up please, I'm going downstairs,' Ron said, then stormed away, still unhappy about his best mate sleeping with his baby sister.

Hermione just shook her head and muttered 'so clueless sometimes', then proceeded to knock on the door, and quietly walk into the room. She tapped Ginny on the shoulder a few times. But she didn't stir.

'Ginny, Harry, you have to get up now,' she said in a soft voice.

'Just a few more minutes, mum,' Ginny replied sleepily.

'Ginny, it's me, Hermione,' she said again.

'Just a few more minutes, Hermione,' she said without opening her eyes.

'You have to get up now, Ginny. Breakfast is ready,' she said.

Ginny opened her eyes, then memories of the previous night came back to her. She turned over to Harry and rubbed his back.

'Harry, love, Harry? You alright? We have to get now, breakfast is ready,' Ginny whispered into his ear.

'I'm fine, Ginny, thanks for staying with me,' Harry said back.

'Anytime, Harry,' Ginny said with a half-smile. 'We're up, Hermione, thanks'.

Hermione left the room with a smile.

'Thank-you, Ginny,' Harry said.

'Did you sleep well, Harry?'

'Great, actually. No nightmares,' he replied with a smile.

Ginny gave a loving hug, and then she got up.

'I think we should put either put on some pajamas or some new cloths. Personally, I don't want to have to say to my mom that we slept in the same bed – no matter how innocent it was,' Ginny said.

Harry nodded, got up, gave Ginny one last hug, and proceeded up to Bill's old room – thankful that he had such a wonderful girlfriend – he smiled to himself, thinking how lucky he truly was, to have someone like Ginny.

##########

Harry and Ginny walked into the kitchen looking very tired – this didn't make Ron very happy at all. They bid their good mornings to Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione, and when Harry said 'good morning' to Ron, he gave a dirty look, and a scowl.

'Harry, dear, an owl came for you just a couple of minutes ago. The letter is sitting on table,' Mrs. Weasley told him.

'Thanks, Mrs. Weasley,' Harry replied.

Harry got the letter, and noticed the Ministry seal on it, then opened it, and took out the parchment.

_Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_ We are pleased to inform you, that you have gained two seats among the Wizengamot. One place you have inherited from your parents, now that you have become of age, and the second, you have inherited from you godfather, Sirius Black. _

_ The first trial that you are required to attend is on July 8th, 1998, where the full Wizengamot will be interrogating one Delores Umbridge. _

_ We will send you letters by owl post two weeks in advance, as to what trials you are required to attend. _

_ Have a nice day,_

_ Charles B. McCann_

_ Head of the Wizengamot_

_ Order of Merlin, second class._

Harry read through the letter twice, just to make sure that he understood, and told those at the table what had happened. They were all proud of Harry, and told him that he better make sure that Umbridge gets locked up.

The rest of the day pasted smoothly, and about have way through the afternoon, Harry and Ginny were both asleep underneath an old willow tree by the pond, in each other's arms.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed. Ever since I wrote the Prologue, I wanted that bit with Ron walking in on Harry and Ginny, without knowing that they did sleep together because Harry had just experienced terrible flashbacks. **

**Sorry for the delay, I've been occupied. I'm not completely sure what I want to do with the next chapter, so it may or may not take a little bit more time. **

**Should you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., feel free to comment.**

**Cheers,**

**– C **


	10. Percy's Problem

Chapter Ten

**_Percy's Problem_**

The following weeks at the Burrow remained peaceful. Although Harry did begin to have more nightmares and flashbacks after the first ones, they were beginning to go away. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione had gotten into a routine: they would normally wake up about an hour after the sun would rise, eat breakfast with Molly, Arthur, and George, who, although was still working on getting the joke shop up and running, was still living at the Burrow. They would spend the rest of the morning either walking around, or flying and playing Quidditch. They would eat lunch with Molly, then spend the afternoon lounging about with their respective partners.

Harry and Ginny took a liking to spending time either out by the pond, or in the tree fort that Ron showed them when they arrived at the Burrow.

Ron and Hermione, however, normally went for walks around the grounds, or hung out under an oak tree that was far away from anything, really. They had to cross the Quidditch Pitch, then go for a walk on a trail through a small forest, in order to get there.

This routine kept up for the first week and a half, until an owl came part way through one morning, addressed to Ron.

_Ron,_

_George here. I plan on opening the shop tomorrow, and I could really use some help. Verity can only do so much right now, and she's about one month pregnant. If you can come as soon as you can, please do – I'll give you some robes when you get here. You won't have to stay longer than five o'clock. For as long as you work here, I'll make sure that you get 20% of all profit. Thanks._

_George._

Upon getting the owl, he raced upstairs to shower and get dressed, quickly said goodbye to everyone, and left the Burrow with a _Pop_.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mrs. Weasley had been having the whole family come around for a diner on Sunday nights. Everyone who didn't live at the Burrow would come around about mid-afternoon. Everyone couldn't help but notice that some people were in better moods than others.

For example, Hermione who, although wasn't in a completely sour mood, was still a little bit unpleasant because, Harry guessed, she really wanted to go get her parents.

Charlie was itching to go back to Romania to get back to his work with dragons. But Mrs. Weasley told him that he couldn't go back again until the summer, so that the whole family could stay together a little bit longer.

Percy, however, although he was once again truly a part of the family, seemed to be quite bitter towards Harry, and surprisingly, Ginny. Harry thought originally that this was because he had let the Battle go on long enough for Fred to die; or because he was imposing on their family in a time where they were suffering loss. Harry had consulted Ginny about this, and told her his theories, but Ginny just replied in saying,

'No, that can't be it; he's been a bloody eejit to me too. The bloody prick. Don't think that you're imposing Harry. That's ridiculous'.

Harry knew that Percy must really be mad at them for some reason, because Ginny rarely referred to a family member a prick – she must be really ticked off at him.

Harry also had consulted Ron and Hermione about this, and they just said that he'd acted normally with them – he would talk to Hermione about things at the Ministry, and about going back to school; and he'd talk to Ron about how things seemed to be going at the joke shop, although he still wasn't one-hundred percent happy that Fred and George even started it, and didn't pursue a job with the Ministry.

Harry was worried.

The last time that something like this happened, it was their fifth year when Percy sent Ron a letter informing him that he should stop hanging around Harry because he was 'dangerous'. But Harry didn't think that was likely. But was he endangering the Weasleys? There were still Death Eaters out there. They were almost definitely after him, weren't they? Should he leave the Burrow?

No – he knew that the Fidilius Charm was still up on the place. Only a very few people knew of the whereabouts of the Burrow, or who lived there.

They were all perfectly safe.

Or were they?

Mr. Weasley, Bill, Percy, and especially Ron and George, who worked in a very populated area, were always surrounded by people. But who's to say that bad people, like undercover escaped Death Eaters, weren't a part of them?

Stupid thought. They were all perfectly safe.

Then what was Percy so mad about then?

XXXXXXXXXX

Sunday rolled around in the middle of June fairly quickly. Harry felt like the war had still just ended a few days ago, and was still having some nightmares. Occasionally, however, he would have very pleasant dreams. One night, he dreamed of he and Ginny just being with each other on a very nice day. Of Teddy, who he had visited several times since the war ended. Of Ginny. Of he, Ron, and Hermione being together with no worries. Of Ginny. Of enjoying a year back at Hogwarts. Of Ginny…

But there was one dream that he wished never ended, and it wasn't of Ginny, as a matter of fact. It was of him, his mom, and his dad, talking. Lily and James weren't in a portrait. They were real live people. Then his parents would see him off to the Hogwarts Express in the upcoming September. Then they were picking him up at Christmas at the platform. They then went to the Burrow where Mrs. Weasley greeted him. That's when he woke up, realizing that Mrs. Weasley was trying to wake him up.

Anyway, the first to arrive at the Burrow was Bill and Fleur, who arrived around three o'clock. Then George arrived soon after, followed by Charlie, and lastly, Percy. He greeted everyone cheerfully with a 'hello', or 'how are you?', and a hug or a handshake. But when he got to where Harry and Ginny were sitting, simply gave them a very small wave, muttered a very weak hello, and sat as far away from them as possible.

'Nice to see you too, Perc,' Ginny muttered.

Everyone gathered around in the sitting room, and talked and laughed – even Percy would laugh at something that George, or Ron, Bill or Charlie would say…however, when Ginny or Harry would say something that others would laugh at, he would just sit there with a straight face, and say or do nothing at all. In fact, whenever Harry or Ginny would say _anything, _he would just sit there.

When Mrs. Weasley and Fleur (who now got on quite well) called everyone in for dinner. Harry got up rather quickly, then turned around and helped Ginny up – like a true gentleman. However, Ginny noticed a little smirk on his face.

'What is it Harry?' Ginny asked him – thinking he was up to something.

'Oh nothing. My dad must be warring off on me,' Harry replied, his smirk still on his face.

Ginny quickly kissed him, then took his hand and they walked into the dining room.

When Percy observed this scene, he scowled. Although they weren't looking in his direction, he gave them the dirtiest look he could manage to procure.

Finally, after a delicious meal, which Harry had two helpings of everything, the two of them had enough. After a silent agreement, they both got up.

'Percy, a word,' Ginny said rather coldly without looking at him, then walked with Harry, hand in hand, out the door and into the yard.

Percy considered the situation, then slowly got up, all eyes on him, and followed Harry and Ginny.

He got out the door, and walked over to where Harry and Ginny were standing about twenty meters from the house.

'What the _hell_ is your problem!?' Ginny yelled at him.

Percy looked a little taken aback. Then regained his stern face, and prepared to attempt to win this fight against her little sister, who, he found out, has a very fiery temper at times.

'What do you mean my problem? It's YOU two who have the problem!' He said rather loudly back at her.

'US?! How DARE you!' Ginny yelled at him.

'Yes! You! Being a couple when you're nothing more that BROTHER and SISTER! You might as well just go date Ron! Or George! You two must be out of your bloody minds! Very soon, one of you will truly notice this and break it off with the other! And who's to say that you two won't fool around with each other? You're both too young anyway! Think of how bloody odd it would be for you two after you break off! You bloody fools!'

By the end of Percy's little speech, both Harry and Ginny were both so mad, that smoke was nearly coming out of their ears. Unexpectedly, Ginny pulled out her wand and aimed it at Percy. Harry then stepped up to Percy , so that he was hardly two inches away from him, and so that Ginny couldn't do anything to him.

'You take that back,' Harry said quietly, but quite threateningly.

Percy did his best attempt at a brave face, and said, 'No'.

'You take it back, now,' he said again.

'No. I won't take back the truth,' Percy said.

'THE TRUTH! YOU BLOODY PRICK!' Ginny yelled at him, then stepped up next to Harry, her wand still in her hand, but lowered slightly – realizing it would be wrong for her to curse family.

'You have no idea what is going on between me and Harry! And it's none of your business either. If you weren't so caught up in being such a kiss-ass to Fudge, or Scrimagor, or BLOODY Umbridge; then you would know that Harry and I have been dating for a year now! Harry and I love each other! And NOT like brother and sister! Because we're NOT! Harry told me what you wrote to Ron two and a half years ago! Harry isn't dangerous! How could you have possibly said something like that, you blithering eejit! And–'

'HOW DARE YOU BRING UP THE PAST LIKE THAT! You know full well that I know I regret that!' Percy yelled at her. 'You know I'm only saying this so you both don't do something you'll both regret!'

Both Ginny and Harry were fuming.

'We love each other,' Harry said, in a quiet voice.

Ginny, however, wasn't able to stay so calm.

'If YOU are so worried that I'll lose my virginity to the kindest, nicest, and most brave man on earth, then you should be DAMN thankful that he has much more self-control than I do; because for one, if it weren't for that, I probably wouldn't be a virgin anymore! And two, both he and I would be cursing you ass to the next millennium! You're just jealous because you don't have someone who you can truthfully say that you love them to. You have absolutely NO idea how bloody WRONG you are! I can't believe someone who's smart like you could say, or even believe something so terribly wrong, Percy! To think I thought you were changed. I just can't believe you would say something like that!'

Ginny then, who had tears running down her cheeks, stormed off into the dark. Harry, who was previously befuddled that Ginny would have said such things, looked at Ginny until he couldn't see her anymore. Then he turned back to Percy, who was looking at where Ginny went also. As he was talking to him, he did his best to keep a calm and quiet voice, and did quite well. But _his _temper was also reaching a high point.

'I hope you're proud of yourself, Percy. Ginny and I love each other. You better start believing that also, because if I weren't here, or if the rest of your family wasn't mere meters away, and likely listening and watching, I'm sure that she _would _have cursed you into the next millennium. It would do you some good to think about all that we've said here. You'd better think about what love _truly_ is. I hope we've made out point here, and I also hope you realize how sorry I am that you think that. But no matter _what_ you say won't make any difference at all as to how Ginny and I portray our relationship. You'd better come up with something damn good to say to Ginny the next time you see her. Goodnight, Percy'.

With that, Harry began to walk to the area where he was pretty sure Ginny went. It truly made him mad that Percy said all of those things. He was absolutely positive that he and Ginny would be spending the rest of their lives together – but when it came time to make it official was a long ways away…years maybe.

His feet led him to the tree-fort where Ron brought them to the first few days that they were at the Burrow. He could see some light coming out from the windows, so he took the old rope latter and began to climb. When he reached the top, he knocked on the door, and stepped inside, to find Ginny sobbing into her hands on one of the couches.

Harry walked over to her, sat down next to her, and gave her a very loving hug. She cried into his shoulder for a few minutes, until she finally found the will-power to speak; even if very quietly and weakly.

'I really thought he'd changed, Harry. I really did. I just can't believe he thought that. You don't think what he said is true, do you?'

'Of course not, Ginny,' Harry replied softly. What we have is something very special, and great. I never want to leave you, Ginny'.

Ginny buried her face into his chest. Harry rocked her slowly and gently back and forth, until she fell to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back at the Burrow, they were all silent. George had given them all Extendable Ears to hear what was going on outside. Although Mrs. Weasley was reluctant at first, she began to listen once she heard yelling.

They all couldn't believe that Percy had said such things. By the end of their argument, Mrs. Weasley was in tears. They all heard a popping noise, indicating that someone had apparated, and by looking out the window into the night, they could see Harry walking away from the house. They therefore assumed that it was Percy who had apparated.

About twenty minutes later, and after no one had said anything except for Fleur, who offered tea about five minutes after the argument ended, a silver stag came prancing into the sitting room, startling everyone. Harry's voice came out of it,

_ 'Ginny and I are in the tree-fort in the grounds. Ginny has fallen asleep on one of the couches. I'm sure you heard what happened outside – sorry for wrecking the evening. I don't want to wake Ginny, so I'll stay with her here until she wakes up, then we'll come back to the Burrow. Ginny should be fine – she's just really hurt inside. See you later; goodnight'._

The stag then disappeared. Soon after this, Bill and Fleur went home, followed by Charlie, who was also staying with them for the time being. Mr. Weasley helped Mrs. Weasley to bed, and Ron and Hermione were quick to follow them upstairs.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry awoke the next morning, the sun bright up in the sky, to the sound of Ginny's soft breath right near his ear. _I could get used to this kind of wake up_, he thought. Then he knew that this wouldn't be happening very often – if it did, he was sure Ron, Molly, or Arthur would definitely have something to say about it.

'Ginny,' he whispered.

Ginny barely stirred.

'Ginny,' he said again. 'Ginny we should get up'.

She cracked open her eyes, and looked up at Harry.

'Harry, what are you doing here in my bedroom?'

'We aren't in your room, Ginny. We're in the tree-fort. Remember?' Harry replied.

All the colour that was in Ginny's face left it, as she remembered what had happened the night before.

She then suddenly shot up.

'But my parents are probably wondering where we are! They'll be mad at us! Oh dear lord! What have we done?' Ginny nearly yelled.

Harry gently pushed back down onto the couch.

'Ginny, it's okay. I let your parents know what happened. They're fine. But we should still probably get to the house soon. Are you alright, Ginny?'

She frowned at bit, then put on a non-convincing smile.

'I'll be fine'.

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the day proceeded without problem. All who was in the house apologized to Harry and Ginny about Percy. Harry and Ginny just stayed alone together either outside or somewhere within the Burrow.

And they stayed that way for the remainder of the week. Ginny had barely even touched her broom the whole week.

When Sunday rolled around again, Percy wasn't there. Mr. Weasley said that he'd go into the Ministry, and as soon as he was able to, he would leave, hardly talking to anyone except for his bosses, and a few of his co-workers.

Mrs. Weasley was worried that the same thing that happened last time would reoccur. Harry even noticed a few tears in her eyes when she thought no one was looking at her.

He needed to fix this.

XXXXXXXXXX

Nothing happened on the matter for another week. On Saturday morning, an owl came for Harry and Ginny.

Harry and Ginny,

I'd like to apologize for what I said that night. I've done a lot of thinking about it, and I've realized how incredibly wrong I was. If you can forgive me, I would be forever grateful. Ginny, you are right, it truly is none of my business as to who you would like to be with. And Harry, I truly apologize for accusing you of not truly loving Ginny; I know how seriously you take things like that.

I don't know what had brought on my attitude. I really have no valid excuse for my actions. I guess I just wasn't in the right state of mind.

Anyway – I am really sorry for all of the things I said, and for the way I've been acting towards you two lately. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't forgive me; I've been acting like a prat again.

Please let mum, dad, and the rest of the family know how sorry I am tomorrow at the family dinner. I know that I can't just expect that my presence is welcome after I've done something so horrible.

Give mum and dad my love.

Love,

Percy.

When Harry first saw the letter, he didn't think that he would like what he was going to read, but by the end, his face had softened a little. He was ready to accept Percy's apology. However, Ginny, on the other, looked like she thought otherwise. Her face, if even possible, hardened while reading the letter.

'I _can't BELIEVE_ he's tried to apologize to us. After all that he's said. He's lucky I didn't put him in St. Mungo's for a year! After he accuses us of just _using_ each other?! That bloody prat!'

'GINNY!' Mrs. Weasley yelled at her. 'Don't you dare say that about your brother! No matter WHAT he has done!'

'But Mum! Have you any idea how–'

'Ginny. Let's go outside,' Harry said quickly, before she said anything that she might regret saying in front of her mother.

Harry led her outside and brought her to the pond, and led her to the willow tree next to it, and sat her down next to him. She laid her head down on his shoulder.

'Harry,' Ginny said.

'Gin'.

'Why does my brother have to be such a prat,' she asked him softly.

'Well,' Harry began slowly, not sure how to phrase what he was going to say, 'I'm not really sure what brought on what he said to us, so I can really see how that made you so angry with him, and I truly don't blame you. But I can sort of see that he is sorry. I just don't think that he wants a repeat of what happened before'.

'But that's what I mean! How do we know he' really sorry! What if he's just saying that so he's in good books with mum and dad, and the rest of them?' Ginny protested.

Harry paused, and sighed.

'I just think we should give him a chance with this one, Gin. We need to trust him; if it turns out that we can't trust him, then by all means, you can bat-bogey hex him,' he said with a smile towards her, who also, smiled to herself. 'But we need give him a chance. We don't want keep the family torn apart. Even if it isn't _really_ my family,' (_yet_ he thought) 'I just think we should see where this will get us. Alright?'

Ginny considered this for a minute. She looked into his piercing emerald eyes. Why did he have to have such beautiful eyes, she thought.

'Fine, we'll try it your way,' she said finally. 'For now. But I haven't ruled out hexing him,' she added quietly.

Harry laughed, and pulled her in for a warm and loving hug.

They stayed by the pond for the remainder of the morning. At times, they would sit on the end of the small, make-shift dock Bill and Charlie had installed, and put their feet and legs in the water.

As they soaked in the sunlight and each other's company, they both realized how badly they needed one another.

_This has been on heck of a New Beginning…_

**Author's Note: I apologise for taking so incredibly LONG with getting this chapter up on the web. Normally, I take a two day break from writing after I get a chapter up, but three days after the last update, I went up to a camp on Lake Huron as a volunteer for a week! Then this chapter was quite difficult to write.**

**I know I skipped some time here and there in this chapter. After the following chapter, I'll be skipping about three weeks' time in the story. **

**Anyway, I hope you've liked the chapter. **

**The next one should go up a bit quicker – because when I sat down and started to write this, I truly had no idea what I was going to write about. But I have ideas for the next one.**

**Happy Tuesday everyone (almost Wednesday).**

**Feedback would be great.**

**Cheers,**

**– C **


	11. 1st Departing of Brothers and Sisters

**Author's Note: I know the title is a little weird, but it will make sense as the story progresses. I apologize for taking so long for posting; but there's been a lot of things going on with farm work, and family, and I've been busy reading other fanfictions.**

**Thanks for the reviews – I really like seeing them.**

**I also really appreciate seeing all the other stories on _Harry Potter _that you all have favourite or followed. I spend lots of time browsing through them and picking out which ones I want to read. I really appreciate you all. You're great. **

**Happy September (hopefully)!**

**Enjoy the chapter!** **It is a tiny bit shorter than the last.**

Chapter Eleven

**_The First Departing of Brothers and Sisters_**

It was early Monday morning three weeks into June, and Harry and Ginny were seeing Hermione and Ron off to Australia. They were standing just outside of the grounds of the Burrow, where they would take a Portkey to the Ministry in Canberra Australia, where they would then get any information on Hermione's parents as they could. Hermione did send them to Sydney, but she wasn't sure if they would stay there or not.

'Be safe,' Mrs. Weasley told them with one minute before their Portkey would leave.

'We will mum,' Ron told her. He was getting slightly annoyed by the constant badgering about 'being safe', and 'don't do anything dangerous', and 'do you have enough cloths and money?'.

'Thirty seconds, Ron,' Hermione said, getting excited.

'Alright,' Ron said to her. 'Bye mum,' he said to his mum, giving her a quick hug. 'Dad,' he gave him a small hug.

'Take care of Hermione, Ron,' Harry said, and winked at Ron.

Ron gave him a slightly amused, slightly ticked off look.

'Ready, Ron?' Hermione asked.

'As I'll ever be,' Ron said, then they grabbed the old tin can.

Harry, Ginny, Mr., and Mrs. Weasley watched as the can lifted them form the can, and in a matter of seconds, they were gone.

Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley saying something to Arthur about them being 'All grown up'.

Mr. Weasley left to work, while the other three returned to the Burrow to eat breakfast.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ginny and Harry took advantage of their time alone. They weren't making love…they had discussed it and they both thought it would be best if they wait to make that step in their relationship…

During the days, they would go for walks, go swimming in the pond, lay in the tree-fort, be somewhere in the Burrow sit under trees… They would be doing all of that, _ALONE_. Ron, despite wanting to only be with Hermione, still made sure that as often as possible, Harry and Ginny were within at least thirty yards of him…despite what Hermione kept telling him. He knew that Harry was the best person for his sister, but he wasn't going to let Harry know that…_yet_. In time, once he was absolutely sure that Harry was fully and completely devoted to her, and was willing to make a big life commitment to her, _then_ he would say so.

Two days after Ron and Hermione left, Harry and Ginny were asked by Mrs. Weasley to go into Diagon Alley to get some things. She gave them her list, which consisted of five things (Floo Powder, Parchment, Quills, Ink, Owl Feed), and Harry took Ginny to the Leaky Cauldron by Side-Along Apparation.

They walked through the Pub as quietly as possible, only nodding to a very aging Tom, and walked out into Alley. As the last time they went to Diagon Alley, there were many people who would stop Harry, and thank him, ask for his autograph, offer to buy him lunch, and many other strange things. Harry would always deny them the offer buy them lunch, and politely say 'no' to those who asked for his autograph.

_I don't want to be a celebrity. I only did what was right! I just want to be a seventeen boy with no worries. I wish people would just leave me alone…_

Sure enough, when they passed the _Daily Prophet_, none other than Rita Skeeter came running out of the office with her Quick-Quill Quotes hovering loyally by her side.

'Why, Harry, fancy seeing you here in Diagon Alley. How have you been coping with the loss of some of your closest comrades? Do you really thing that we are victorious now? Do you think all of your lost loved ones would be proud of you?'

_SMACK!_

Ginny slapped her.

'How DARE you talk to Harry! How dare you talk about his parents, his godfather, and his dead friends! Have you no brain at all! You inconsiderable little gossip! Even if Harry were to answer your bloody questions, your friggin' notepad would say nothing but lies anyway! You should feel DAMN lucky that I'm not seventeen yet!'

Nearly everyone on the street had stopped walking by began looking at the three. Harry turned slightly red. Ginny didn't take her gaze off of Skeeter, while Rita looked slightly amused, and slightly scared.

'You must be Ms. Weasley. Your flaming red hair. What looks like your mother's old cloths! Geese, Potter! I'd think you'd have at least found someone you can at least be proud of!' Rita said. 'Love Potion, perhaps,' she said to herself, but loud enough so all could hear.

Ginny was about to yell something at her, but Harry put up his hand to stop her.

He, again, like the night Percy and them had their row, took a step closer to Rita so they were mere inches apart. He felt like this was just a complete repeat of what happened that night…

'You take that back Skeeter, take it back now, or I swear, I will let the Minister and your boss know your deepest secret within the hour,' he said to her so only those with a few feet could hear, and Ginny was the only one anyway.

Skeeter looked positively scared. She simply glanced at Ginny, said very quietly that she took it back, and walked back towards the office.

While she was walking, Ginny said quite loudly,

'PRAT!'

Skeeter turned around, and was about to something back, but she caught Harry's eye, muttered something so quietly, that Harry could only see her lips move slightly, and walked into her office.

'Come on, Ginny,' Harry said to a very angered Ginny, 'she's not worth it'.

Harry placed an arm around her waist, and walked up the street, not turning around to pay any attention to the people who were calling, and even shouting his name asking, again, for autographs, thanking him, or saying 'well done'. Harry happened to notice how sexy she was when her temper reached a peak.

He smiled.

'Ginny,' Harry said to her, as they were walking out of the store in which they bought Quills and Parchment.

'Yes, Harry?' Ginny replied, looking up.

'I'd like to go back to my vault and look through more of my families stuff; if that's all right with you, only,' he said, glancing at her, hoping for approval.

She smiled.

'Of course we can Harry. We'll get the other things on our way out,' Ginny replied kindly with a smile.

They walked up the street to the old building, and walked up the steps.

As usual, a goblin used a security sensor, but was less aggressive as the last time, then they continued on to the front desk, where and old goblin was pouring over some paperwork.

'Excuse me sir,' Harry said to the goblin, who hadn't looked up at them when they arrived before him.

'Name, wand, key, and identification,' the goblin said, appearing not too happy about being disturbed.

'Harry Potter, sir,' Harry replied, pulling out his wand, identification, and money bag, which, at the bottom, sat his key.

He placed them before the goblin who looked up, and began looking at the articles before him. After studying them for about a minute, he looked back at Harry, nodded, then got off of his high chair, and motioned for them to follow him.

They proceeded to the back, where they boarded carts, and began to descend deep, deep down into the ground.

They arrived at the familiar doors of the vault, and Harry slowly opened it.

There were still the two trunks from his parents and Sirius. The first place Harry looked, was his parents' trunk. There were the familiar photo albums, jewelry boxes, and pictures. Harry and Ginny looked through a photo album of his parents at Hogwarts, but when Harry went to put it back, his eyes found something else in the dark bottom corner of the trunk underneath some pictures. He picked it up – it appeared to be some kind of book. He rubbed his sleeve along it, so as to remove the very thick layer of dust. The cover was simple brown, with some designs here and there. In the very middle, in familiar writing were the words,

_The Diary of Lily Potter_

_September 1977 – December 1980_

Harry's eyes widened considerably.

He couldn't believe it.

In his hands, were the words that described his mother's life from the time that she was a seventh year, through marrying his father, and raising himself for the first five months of his life.

He ran his hand across the counter, and he felt Ginny's hand on his shoulder. That gave him a wave of confidence. He took the corner of the cover, and slowly turned it. On the first page, in the very middle, was a picture of Lily when she looked to be about seventeen. She was smiling and laughing at something that must have been happening on the other side of the camera.

He turned onto the next page, and that was where the writing began. He didn't know if he wanted to begin reading now, or not. He knew that it was just he and Ginny in the vault, as the goblin had left with instructions to come back in a half hour.

He began to read…

_ August 31st, 1997._

_ Hello! I'm going back to Hogwarts tomorrow; and guess what; I've been made Head Girl! But, of course, theirs is some bad news to go along with it… James Potter has been named Head Boy! That's right! The co-head of the Marauders! The one who calls our head of house, Prof. McGonagall, Minnie! Dumbledore has gone completely off of his rocker! Although, with Voldemort (that's right! I said his name!) off murdering, imperiousing, and RECRUITING…people at Hogwarts will be highly worried, so having the most popular kid in the school could help I suppose…_

_ Still though, I'll have to patrol with him, work with him, and organize events with HIM. _

_ Merlin help me._

_ I swear if the first thing he does is ask me out, I'll punch him right in the nose, and curse into the next year._

_ Then again though, last year, James did seemed to have grown up a bit. At least he only asked me out three times last year, unlike the thirty odd times the year before. Maybe he's changing a bit. Perhaps he'll take this whole 'responsibility' (if he's even ever heard of the word before) thing seriously, realizing the whole school depends on him…_

_ I'll just have to wait for tomorrow…_

_ Lily._

Harry couldn't help but smile a little bit at what his mother had been saying towards the end of her entry. Even though she tried her best not to let on, Harry could tell that she did like James a little bit after sixth year, and he'd grown up a little bit.

He still loved to see Lily's writing, knowing it was just like his own.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry and Ginny exited the doors of Gringotts half an hour later, after looking through some more photo albums, boxes of possessions and what not.

Harry and Andromeda had already agreed that Harry would give all of the money his parents had left for him to use whilst he was at school to Teddy. Harry knew that Remus had little to no money at all, and Harry was sure that Andromeda hadn't been able to access her old family vault in a long, long time.

'Harry,' Ginny said as they were walking down Diagon Alley.

'Yes, _Gin_,' Harry smirked.

'We've got to get you your own owl,' she told him.

Harry's grin disappeared almost instantly – as he had almost put Hedwig's death to the back of his mind.

'I don't know, Ginny. I just don't know what to do,' Harry told her.

Ginny frowned. She was hoping that if he were to get a new owl, he would start to really begin to feel better.

'How about this Harry,' she started, 'what if, when we go there, if there is an owl that you like, you can get it, but if not, then we'll leave it for another time'.

Harry pondered on this idea…he knew that if he followed through with the idea, it would make Ginny very happy…and that is what he wanted more than anything else in the world right now.

'Sure, Ginny. Let's go,' Harry replied with a half-smile.

They continued walking down the street until they reached the store, and walked in.

Ginny went to go get the feed, while Harry went to look over the oversized, rather handy birds. There were some barn owls, tawny owls, even a few snowy owls. He was looking over a tawny own when he felt the feeling of claws on his arm. He looked over, and saw a multi-coloured bird, about half the size of a regular owl, and much thinner, and with much less fur.

Harry was looking down upon the only Phoenix in the shop, and it was looking up at him with an expression of loyalty, curiosity, and hopefulness.

Harry smiled.

But he didn't know if it was his lack in knowledge of the bird, or if it really was true, but this bird looked remarkably like Fawkes – only much smaller.

'Mr. Potter,' came a voice from behind him.

Harry, still not having broken the habit, jumped, and put his hand on his wand, ready to pull it out.

Feeling stupid, he looked at a woman who appeared to be in her mid-sixties, with the same kind of build as Professor Sprout was standing before him.

'Sorry, 'bout that,' Harry began, 'haven't kicked the habit, I guess'.

'That is a remarkable bird, you've got yourself there, Mr. Potter,' the woman said. 'Once a Phoenix decides on which master they want, they never leave. That bird, Mr. Potter is yours'.

Harry looked shocked.

'Another thing that makes that bird remarkable, is that it a descendant from Professor Dumbledore's Phoenix'.

If it was possible for Harry's jaw to drop more, it would've.

'So you're saying that I have to buy this Phoenix?' he asked the woman.

'Well, I can't _make _buy anything; but this bird would never _truly _settle for another master again in its lifetime'.

He considered this. He wanted to get a new bird, but the idea of replacing Hedwig seemed horrible.

_But I won't be replacing her. _Harry thought. _It'll be like when someone retires, and someone fills in for them_. Yes, that's how he'd put it.

'How much does this bird cost?' Harry asked.

'Well, considering how incredibly rare it is, and the troubles I had getting it, she costs one hundred galleons,' she replied.

Ginny, who had previously been paying for the feed, came over, looked at the bird, Harry, and the happy look on the witch's face, and smiled. It was clear to her that Harry was about to buy this, well, it wasn't an owl; she wasn't completely sure what it was, but was sure that it was like one.

Harry bought the owl, and Ginny, Harry, and the Phoenix went out into the bright afternoon sun.

'Have you any idea what you're going to name it?' Ginny asked.

'Not yet,' Harry replied.

'What is it, anyway?' she asked.

Harry looked down upon his new pet.

'This is a descendant from Dumbledore's Phoenix. Quite amazing that I happened to get it,' Harry said.

'How so?' Ginny asked.

'Well,' he began, 'My wand, as you know, has a core that was given from Fawkes. And now, Fawkes's grandchild or whatever it is chose me – much like my wand'.

Ginny processed all that, then took understanding to it.

'We'll have to think of a really good name then,' Ginny said.

Harry nodded.

They spent another hour in Diagon Alley, they visited George in his shop, who had the help of Lee and Verity to bring the shop to a presentable state. They also stopped at a café to grab some tea, and returned to the Burrow.

**Author's Note: I again apologize for the long absence from writing. Thanks for sticking with me (to those of you who have, again, you're great!).**

**Like I said before, I love seeing all of the stories on Harry Potter y'all have either followed or favourite, as I have quite the list coming together.**

**There are a few things I must ask of you all though:**

**1) ****Would you like to see part of a cht, or a whole cht devoted to Ron & Hermione in Australia? I've read some FanFics where the author tried to do that, but it ended up being junk. I could just get Hermione to summarize to Harry & Ginny what happened… It's up to you, though.**

**2) ****I've got some ideas, but if you've got any suggestions for names for Harry's Phoenix, please let me know.**

**3) ****Your patience. I'm sorry it's been taking me so long, but academic things have been keeping me busy.**

**Thanks for reading everyone.**

**Thanks to my beta reader.**

**Feedback would be awesome!**

**Cheers,**

**– C **


	12. Lawneys Lane

Chapter Twelve

**_Lawneys Lane_**

_Family (yes Harry, that's you too),_

_As you all very well know, it's been three days since we left, and we still haven't got a clue as to where Hermione's parents are. All we DO know is that they are somewhere in Sydney…Sydney is a big place! Their Ministry has been some help to us, but they too aren't having too much luck either._

_Hermione and I are staying in the Australian equivalent to England's Leaky Cauldron (a wizard pub and hotel). The people here seem nice enough, everything seems to be very laid back (that's is my style, after all), and the innkeeper has been very kind to us._

_Don't worry Mum, we've been getting lots to eat; and Dad, I've learned a fair bit about Muggles I'm sure you'll find just fascinating._

_The weather has been alright, it rained a bit here yesterday, but other than that, all sun._

_Just thought I'd update you all._

_Don't worry, Harry, we'll be back for your birthday._

_Hope things are going well,_

_Ron._

Ron read over his letter, then walked down to the main floor, got an owl, and sent it off.

He walked back up to his room, and sat down on his bed. He brought his hands to his face, and let out a long sigh. Three days! Three bloody days, and they didn't have as much as on clue as to where to look in this ruddy city.

He kept all of these thoughts to himself, however. He knew Hermione was feeling the same way, but he felt that he needed to stay strong for her. The last thing Ron wanted was a repeat of what happened whilst they were on the run…

'Ron, you in there?' came Hermione's voice from the other side of his door.

'Come on in Hermione,' Ron said, lifting his head and straightening up.

'How are you doing,' Ron asked her as she entered and sat down next to him.

She let out a long sigh.

'I don't know, alright I suppose. This all just so frustrating. I know I said I didn't know how long this would take, but I never thought it would take longer than a week to find them, set their memories back to normal, and set things straight with everyone they've talked with and everything here!'

'It'll be alright, Hermione, I know it will, you just wait. We'll find them in no time. I promise,' Ron said reassuringly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Harry walked into the kitchen of the Burrow, ready for dinner, when he saw an unfamiliar sitting in the window. He looked around and saw no one else in the kitchen at the moment. He untied the letter from the owl's leg, and as it flew away, he read the letter.

He finished reading it, and he had a frown on his face. This wasn't the news he was hoping for when he saw the letter from Ron. This was practically the opposite. He stood there and re-read the letter a few times to make sure that he read it correctly, but nothing changed.

'What is it Harry?' Harry didn't even notice Ginny coming into the room.

He motioned for her to read the letter.

By the time she finished reading it, she too, had a frown on her face.

'That's really too bad,' Ginny said, 'I hope Hermione is alright'.

Harry nodded.

'We'd better give this to your mum, Ginny,' Harry said, sighing. 'She'd be broken if we didn't'.

Ginny too, sigh.

'She'd be broken if we did'.

Mrs. Weasley was in fact quite sad when she found out about Ron and Hermione's terrible luck. The rest of the evening passed very quietly.

The next day, Harry awoke to Ginny's knock on his door. He cracked open his eyes, and looked at his watch; it was ten o'clock in the morning. Quite unusual for Harry to sleep in this late.

'It's open,' Harry said.

Ginny opened the door, and shut it with some mussel.

She didn't look happy.

'What is it Ginny?' Harry asked, sitting up.

She threw of the _Daily Prophet_ at Harry, and pointed at where he should read. He obeyed, prepared for the worse, and read.

**_DELORES UMBRIDGE ESCAPES AZKABAN, WITH OTHER LOW-SECURITY PRISSONERS IN TOW_**

**_Late last night, as the headline says, previous Ministry Official escaped Azkaban after only being there for two weeks. _**

**_'This comes as an enormous shock,' was what temporary Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt said when he heard the news. 'It is still unknown as to how Ms. Umbridge escaped, let alone brought others with her'._**

**_The last time something like this happened, several dangerous Death Eaters escaped to join He-Who-Mustn't-Be-Named… Is this all really happening again?_**

**_One of the first acts the Minister performed when he entered office, was getting rid of the Dementors of Azkaban, and having them concealed in a high-security room deep within the Department of Mysteries. This room and the whole department is extremely heavily guarded, and it is warned that trying to enter would be extremely foolish._**

**_When asked if he would consider placing the Dementors back in Azkaban, the Minister said, 'I didn't even consider it for one second. The Dementors are terrible creatures, and very recent history has proven that they don't always stay loyal to the Ministry. We currently have very replaced very strong and powerful wards around Azkaban, and are repeated surrounding those wards, and around that layer of wards'. _**

**_The Minister explained that once one layer of wards has been broken, then every team of Aurors, and those authorized to protect would be notified._**

**_The Minister made it very clear that all citizens should keep their own protective wards around their properties, and make sure that your Floo-Network (if you have one) is sealed for the time-being. The Minister also asks for your patience as they round up the remaining Death Eaters, Snatchers, and those alike._**

That wasn't a very pleasant way to wake up.

Harry was angry. That hag of a women had escaped Azkaban with other dangerous people, willing to do almost anything to get the 'Voldemort-World' back in place.

'Bloody hell,' was all he muttered.

Ginny just nodded, and gave Harry a quick hug, and sat down next to Harry.

'We'll be alright, Ginny,' Harry said. 'I won't let anything happen to you or your family'.

She looked up at him, a small hint of anger in her eyes.

'You're not leaving me again, are you?' she asked quietly.

Harry looked black.

'Of course not, Ginny'.

That Saturday found Harry, Ginny, George, and Bill playing two on two Quidditch. It was Harry and Ginny on a team, and George and Bill on the other, and it was, of course, very evenly matched. George had convinced them that he should release a Snitch, since Bill wasn't that bad at being a Seeker, even though his preferred position was either Keeper or Chaser.

The game lasted quite a while. Harry and Ginny worked really well together.

However, the game didn't finish, as George threw a badly aimed Quaffle at Ginny, and hit her in the mouth. She fell off of her broom from about fifty feet high, and plummeted towards the ground.

Harry watched this happen from the other side of the field, and as soon as he saw Ginny get hit, he soured towards her, and yelled _'Alesto Momentum!'_ Ginny continued to fall until she was about three feet above the ground, where she stopped, and slowly fell towards the ground. He continued to fly towards her, until he was five feet above the ground, where he jumped off of his broom, and landed down next a passed out Ginny. The next to land was Bill, who luckily knew a charm to keep Ginny unconscious until they got her inside, and another to ease the pain a little.

George also raced down, but was flying their slowest broom. He looked more scared than Harry.

'Will she be okay, Bill?' George asked fearfully.

'Yeah, she'll be flying by Monday. Just a few spells and potions from mum, and some rest and she'll be fine. Don't worry, George,' Bill said, placing a hand on George's shoulder as Harry picked Ginny up in his arms, 'it was an accident'.

George nodded, though not fully convinced, and he and Bill followed Harry inside.

Mrs. Weasley performed some mending spells on Ginny, then released the charm Bill placed that kept her unconscious, but did make sure that she was given a powerful sleeping potion.

'Harry, can I have a word with you outside for a second?' Bill asked him after Ginny was fast asleep.

Harry looked up from where he was watching Ginny, nodded, and followed Bill outside.

'Harry,' Bill began, 'Have you any idea what you did after Ginny was hit by that Quaffle?'

Harry shock his head. He honestly thought it was all a blur now.

'Harry, you performed wandless magic when you stopped Ginny from crashing into the ground! Most advanced witches or wizards can only perform wandless magic with simple spells like _Wingardium Leviousa_, or _Lumos_. Only people like Dumbledore could do things like that! Have you ever done that before?

Harry again shock his head.

_Did I really do that?_

'Harry,' Bill began.

'Yes?'

'Do you really love my sister?' Bill asked.

Harry turned a bit red, then got a little scared.

Bill smiled.

'Don't worry, Harry, I'm glad you and Gin are dating. You've nothing to worry about,' reassured him.

Harry grinned a little.

'Yes, I do love her. Why?'

'I just think that it has something to do with the magic you performed today,' Bill smiled. 'Your love for her saved her from terrible injuries, Harry. Thank-you'.

XXXXXXXXXX

In a cabin somewhere in Great Brittan, a man slammed a wooden door, having just escaped from a terrible storm.

'It's bloody friggin' cold out there,' he muttered to himself.

He looked up at his surroundings. Four others were sitting around a table, doing nothing but staring at him with a very angry look about them. A recent copy of the _Daily Prophet_ laying temporarily forgotten on the table.

'What in the name of bloody Merlin took you so long to get here?' the one at the head of the table yelled at him.

He looked up, and his mood became even worse.

'Sorry, sir. I swear I didn't mean to,' he began, but was cut off.

'I don't care!' the assumed leader yelled at him, slamming his glace of firewhiskey onto the old and run down wooden table.

'I had Aurors after me, sir!' he pleaded.

The leader's face darkened. He looked the man straight in the eye.

'You had, what?' he said in a quiet but highly threatening voice.

He gulped. His eyes full of fear. What was he supposed to say? He had gotten away successfully, had he not? He thought he had. He looked down at his feet then up at his leader.

'I didn't mean to sir! I was at my job at the Ministry, like you told me to be, and I was talking to someone from my office at Magical Transportation on my break, and we were talking about the war, you know. And I accidentally let slip that I was all for the Muggleborn inquiries, and the guy looked at me, and walked away. He must have blabbed to someone, because the next thing I know while I'm walking out at the end of the day, is the Head of the Magical Law Enforcement or wherever asks me to come with him. I got into the fireplace next to me, went to the first place that popped into my head, and I ended up at Lawneys Lane, and he must have grabbed hold of me, cause he was with me, so– '

'He WHAT?' the leader screamed at him.

'He came with me, sir,' he said barely above a whisper.

'You IDIOT! Our best hideout is on Lawneys Lane, and now the bloody Head of Magical Law Enforcement Office likely knows we have a hideout there. Have you ANY idea how bloody STUPID you are? _Crucio_,' the leader pointed the wand at the man.

He screamed in pain…as if one-thousand razor sharp daggers were stabbed into his body repeatedly, then ripped apart.

_'Avada Kedavra!'_ the leader yelled again.

Anger filled Yaxley's face, as he looked down upon the still fear-filled face of Pius Thickeness.

**Author's Note: Sorry once again for the prolonged absence. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I know that there weren't many, if any happy things that happened, but practically everything sets up future storylines. There will be more of Ron and Hermione in Australia, I did get some reviews in favor of that, keep them coming!**

**Sorry for any mistakes. What you must realize is that I'm writing this at the very end if the day, and I'm not very sharp at that time…**

**I've been reading some other FanFictions. There are two that I'm reading quite closely, and they are:**

**1) ****Harry Potter: Post Script: Heroes, Hopes, and Horrors**

**2) ****Harry Potter and the Death Eater's Quest**

**Those are two great stories, and if you haven't read them yet, you really should!**

**Happy Friday everyone.**

**Cheers, **

**– C **


	13. Finité Obliviate

**Author's Note: ****Sorry again for the delay, hard chapter to write. Enjoy it!**

Chapter Thirteen

**_Finité Obliviate_**

_Dear Ron and Hermione,_

_We're very sorry to hear that you haven't made much progress in finding Mr and Mrs. Granger. We all really hope that your luck will get better really soon. _

_Things here have been relatively calm, however, something did happen the other day while Bill, George, Ginny and I were playing Quidditch. The teams were Ginny and I versus George and Bill, and after a while of playing, George accidentally threw a badly-aimed Quaffle at Ginny, and knocked her off of her broom. It ended up hitting her in the mouth. _

'MERLIN!' Hermione screamed. She grabbed her cloak and beaded bag, she then turned to Ron, and said in a hurry,

'I'm going to the Ministry of Magic, see you soon!'

She then ran out the door, and Ron could her stomping down the flight of stairs that lead to the pub.

'Bloody mental woman sometimes,' Ron muttered to himself.

Ron continued to read the letter.

_I was watching all of this happen from the other end of the pitch, and when I saw the Quaffle hit Ginny off of her broom, I raced towards her on my Firebolt, I yelled out the spell 'Alesto Momentum' and Ginny slowed down before she hit the ground, and didn't crash. However, I didn't even notice this until after Bill told me, but I performed the spell without pulling out my wand. _

'Bloody Hell Harry,' Ron said to himself, knowing how difficult it is to do things like that.

_After we knew that Ginny was well taken care of, Bill took me outside, and asked me if I loved Ginny._

Ron's ears turned red once Ginny's love life was mentioned.

_I (sorry for putting you through this, Ron) said that I did, and Bill said that I was able to perform that magic because of my love for Ginny. Perhaps this is another one of those examples where Dumbledore would've just smiled and talk about the powers of love (not that I disagree with him in any way)._

_Other than that, things have been very normal. George told me to tell you that he was going to make you work until nine o'clock every day for a month for you to make up for all the hours you've missed at the shop, Ron (however, he did laugh rather hard after he said that)._

_Ron, your mum, of course, didn't believe you when you said that you were getting enough food, so right this moment, actually, she's preparing some snacks for you that she will send later on once my knew Phoenix, which I have decided to name Ignis, which is apparently Latin for 'Flame' (seems fitting for a Phoenix) gets back._

_It was actually rather odd when Ginny and I went into the store in Diagon Alley so I could get a new owl. But, from what I've told, Phoenixes are like wands, in a way; they pick you, and they won't serve anyone else the same way they serve their rightful owner unless their owner told them otherwise – which I have done. Phoenixes have very good senses, so I told him to do anything that someone I trust asked him to do. _

_Merlin, Phoenixes are strange, but brilliant also. _

_Again, I really hope that your luck improves soon, I can't wait to see you again. _

_Love, _

_Harry._

_P.S. Ginny is doing well right now, she'll be fine in a couple days, in fact, she asked me an hour ago if I wanted to go outside and pass a Quaffle around!_

Ron put the letter onto the small desk in the corner of the room, then turned to Harry's Phoenix. Ignis looked up curiously Ron, as if waiting for something. Ron then realized that it had just flown half way around the world, so Ron got it some water from a very small bathroom that was near his room. When he returned, the phoenix was still sitting the exact way as when Ron left, and also in the same place. Ignis was sitting on the small desk, looking up at Ron expectantly, and waiting for his water.

Ron gave him the water, and sat watching him for a while.

_So_, Ron thought, _Harry's got a Phoenix. He's gonna turn out just like Dumbledore someday._

It had now been an hour after Ron finished reading the letter, Hermione burst into the room, ran over to the desk where the letter sat, didn't even notice Ignis sitting on the table, grabbed Ron off of the bed, took his hand, and ran out the door.

Ron just looked at Hermione with a strange expression as he ran down the stairs with her. The people in the pub gave them extremely strange expressions, and many of them thought that Ron and Hermione were crazy, and even Ron was questioning if Hermione had suddenly burst.

When they made it out into Muggle London, Ron slowed Hermione down on the sidewalk, after a women who seemed to be in her forties or fifties gave a very scared and strange look.

'Hermione, slow down,' Ron began, 'What is it? What's happened?'

Hermione looked up at Ron with a huge smile on her face.

'We've found them! We've found them!' Hermione said quite loudly.

'Wait,' Ron said, still unsure of what she was talking, rather yelling about; until it finally kicked in. 'Oh! That's great! Where are they? How did you find out?'

'They live in a small house in Northern Sydney! I wasn't even thinking before! I never whipped their memories completely! Only of everything to do with me! They are still dentists! Harry's letter! He said that Ginny got hit in the mouth by a Quaffle! I can't believe I didn't remember that! I've been so stupid!'

'Hermione,' Ron began, 'Breathe. How is it that we are to get to their house?'

'The Ministry is has arranged a Portkey that is just around the corner here in an alleyway!' Hermione replied.

'But won't that be a bit suspicious to the Muggles?' Ron asked, 'Us walking into an alleyway and not walking back out? What if there are people there?'

'The Ministry said that they were going to put wards up around the place for the next three days so that we can get from here to there enough for them to get their affairs straight. We should be going home in a few days with Mum and Dad!' Hermione said.

Ron still had a questioning look about him.

'But why didn't they just put the Portkey in the pub or hotel?' he asked.

Hermione looked at him with a slightly angry expression.

'Do you even think, sometimes Ronald?' she asked him. 'If they put it there, than anyone could stumble across it. Even if we put it in our room, the Cleaning Witch would still come across it'.

Ron thought it would be best if he shut up about now.

They made their way to an alleyway that was, as Hermione had said, just around the corner, where they found it to be empty. Sitting in a very dark corner of the alley, was an old bent up steering wheel for a car.

Ron immediately thought of his dad's old Ford Anglia, and the trip to Privet Drive, and Hogwarts.

Hermione now slowed down, and walked over to the steering wheel. She rubbed her hand along it.

'This will be the object that reunites me with my parents,' she said very quietly to herself.

'What time will it be leaving,' Ron asked from a few feet behind her.

Hermione broke from her thought and looked down to her watch, then up at Ron.

'It should be leaving in about two minutes, Ron,' Hermione said.

They just stood there waiting for those two minutes. Just before it became two minutes, the steering wheel turned blue, and began to flash.

'Ron!' Hermione said excitedly; 'Grab it!'

Ron did just that, and a second after he did, he began to spin upwards, and continued to for a few seconds, before he felt himself descend, and he saw a Muggle neighbourhood near them. They hit the ground, typically, in another alleyway that Ron assumed had some protective enchantments surrounding it.

They looked at their surroundings.

'Where do go from here?' Ron asked Hermione.

'The people at the Ministry gave their address. Hold on a second,' she said, then took out her beaded bag that she still kept with her, and used.

After a moment of rummaging, she pulled out a small piece of parchment.

'It says here that they live on 24 William Street,' she said, then began walking out of the alleyway. 'It shouldn't be too far from here'.

Ron caught up with her as they were just leaving the alley, and saw that nobody was looking towards them, or was walking near them; which was good, because that meant that the enchantments were working. He then saw a road sign near them next to some blinking lights perched on a metal pole.

'Hermione,' Ron said, then pointed up to the sign, 'Up there it says that this is William Street right here. And what's that blinking light all about? Are they trying to blind people?'

Hermione laughed slightly.

'No Ron; that's called a traffic light. It's there so people know when they can drive or not, so there aren't crashes all the time'.

They realized which way they had to go in order to find Number 24, and when they got there, they were looking at a one-story brick house, that looked like it was built around 1980.

'So how do you go about doing this?' Ron asked. 'Their memories, I mean'.

'I'm going to knock on the door, and when they answer, we'll pretend to be potential buyers of that house that we saw for sale a few minutes ago, and ask if we can come in for some tea. Once we're out of eye-shot from outside eyes, I'll refresh their memories, and hope they understand,' Hermione said.

Ron could tell that Hermione was worried that her parents wouldn't understand why she _did_ modify her memories. Ron then saw a tear leave her eye.

Ron had to be completely honest with himself: he was never that great at the whole _comforting _thing. In fact, he was quite lousy at it. When Ginny got hit in the back by a Quaffle when they were younger, Ron, instead of leaving her where she was, carried her in a fireman's carry all the way to the house, despite Ginny's continued cries of pain.

He wasn't completely sure as to what he should do right now.

All he could think of was to give her a small hug and say that everything would be fine.

'Ready?' Ron asked Hermione after a moment.

She nodded, and began walking up the pathway with Ron right next to her. She knocked on the door, and waited.

They heard a man's voice say,

'I'll be right there!' and they waited.

Half a minute later, and tall and thin man with glasses, who looked to be in his mid-forties opened the door, and looked at Ron and Hermione.

'Good morning,' Mr Granger said to them politely. 'How may I help you?'

Hermione used all of her power to stop herself from embracing her father in a huge hug.

'Er, good morning. I'm Hermione, and this is my fiancé, Ron,' she said pointing to Ron, whose ears and cheeks had just turned red. 'We were looking into buying the house for sale down the street. Do you mind if you tell us a bit about the neighbourhood?'

Mr Granger smiled at them warmly.

'Of course, of course! Please come in!' he said, ushering them in. 'I'll just go tell my wife that you're here. Sorry for being so bold here, but how old are you?'

'Er,' Hermione said, unsure what to say. Even though he didn't know it, Hermione felt it was odd that her own father was asking her that.

'We're both twenty-two,' Ron said, saving Hermione.

'Oh!' he said surprised. 'I'll just go get my wife. You two make yourselves comfortable in the sitting room right through there,' he finished pointing towards a cozy sitting room.

Ron and Hermione walked into the room, and sat down on the couch. The looked at each other, and Hermione whispered,

'So far, so good'.

Hermione pulled out her wand, and put in right next to her leg, so that when Mr and Mrs. Granger walked in, they wouldn't be able to see it until she performed the spell.

A moment later, Mr and Mrs. Granger walked into sitting room, both with smile on their faces. Once they sat down, Hermione quickly pulled out her wand, pointed it at her parents and said very forcefully, _Finité Obliviate!_

Her parents' eyes went unfocused as Hermione let the spell do its work. About twenty seconds later, Mr and Mrs. Grangers' eyes went back into focus, and they looked around in wonder, and then looked at Hermione, then Ron.

Hermione was extremely worried. She had never performed that spell before, and it took a lot of skill to be able to pull off perfectly. What if she didn't do it correctly? If she did, she would have completely wrecked their minds. They would spend the rest of their lives in the ward at St. Mungo's for those whose minds are permanently damaged. They might be in beds next to Lockhart.

She couldn't stand not knowing if the charm had worked or not. It was a brutal feeling; thinking that you might have just ruined your own parents' lives.

'Er, Mum? Dad?' she asked quietly.

She looked hopefully up at them.

'Hermione,' Mrs. Granger began, 'This isn't our house. Where are we? And who is this?' she asked, pointing towards Ron.

Hermione squealed in delight, and brought both of her parents into a huge bone crushing hug.

'It's nice to see you too Hermione,' Mr Granger said, 'But it's not like it's been a year, we just saw each other this morning, did we not?'

Hermione slowly let go of them, and sigh,

'It's a brutally long story, but it actually has been a year, dad,' Hermione told them. 'Here, sit down, and Ron and I will tell you'.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hermione and Ron told them everything they needed to know about the war. They left out the Horcruxes, the Hallows, and Ron's temporary depart. Hermione was worried that they wouldn't forgive her for modifying her memories, but they did, however, they did request, that should Hermione need to do so again in the future (Merlin forbid), then she ask them before actually doing it.

Ron and Hermione had the tea that Hermione _should _have had one year ago, then they left for the hotel to gather Ron and Hermione's things.

While Ron and Hermione were doing that, Mr and Mrs. Granger began to set their affairs straight. Their first step was to tell all of their neighbours and friends that they were moving to England, as that had been a life-long ambition for both of them, but that they would still stay in touch. They then put their dental practice building, lot, and company for sale, which was bought three days later.

That whole three days was a complete blur to all of them. Hermione and Ron had arranged a Portkey for them to return to England that night at nine o'clock. Hermione had sent the Weasleys a letter with Ignis saying to not worry about the snacks because they would arrive at the Ministry around eleven o'clock (the _next_ morning for them), and they would go through the usual customs and paperwork and what not, and would be at the Burrow by twelve.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ginny was angry.

Her mother hadn't been letting her out of the house since the accident that happened _four days ago_. Even Harry didn't want her to do much of anything except for lie down on the couch all day, _doing nothing_. She wasn't used to this, and didn't much feel like _getting _used to it either. She hadn't been able to sleep very well at night because she did nothing all day to use energy!

She had just finished her breakfast, her father and George were both off at work, while Harry, who insisted on doing all of the cleaning up after breakfast, was doing so. Her mother was just coming down the stairs while she was in her strain of thought.

'Ginny, I need to go off to Diagon Alley this morning to get some things. Don't over exert yourself while I'm gone! I should be back for lunch. Have a good morning'.

With that, she went out the door, beyond the protective enchantments, and apparated away with a _Pop!_

Harry then walked into the room, and grinned just like his father used to when he was up to something; a stupid little lopsided grin.

'What's so bloody funny, Potter,' she said, not finding anything amusing about the way she was.

'It's not so fun, is it? Lying down while others fuss over you,' he said.

'You've finally caught that I'm fine, have you?' she said.

'Hey!' Harry said, 'I've had to put up with people doing this to me for years. What, with Quidditch, and attacks, and all that! I think I'm quite experienced in this particular field!'

Ginny couldn't help but grin.

'But I still thought that Bill said I'll be flying again yesterday?' she said.

'He did say that. And if it were up to him, you would be out flying right now, but unfortunately for you, you have too good of a mother,' Harry said.

'Yeah, I know,' Ginny said.

'Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something that Bill told me about after your fall,' Harry said.

'Okay, what is that then,' Ginny said, sitting up a bit.

'Well, when you fell of your broom,' Harry began, 'I was way down at the other end of the field, but when I saw it happen, I raced towards you, then, I performed wandless magic to save you from crashing without me even realizing it; I didn't even know I did it until Bill told me. But apparently, the spell I did, Alesto Momentum, is terribly difficult to perform without a wand, but I did without thinking. Bill told me it was because of my love for you. Something Dumbledore would probably say. What do you think, Ginny?'

Ginny sat in silence for moment, thinking. When she finally spoke, it was in a very quiet, calming, serious, and wondering tone.

'Harry?' she asked.

'Yes, Ginny,' he responded.

'Can you tell me exactly what was going on in your head when you went to sacrifice yourself to Voldemort?' she asked.

Harry paused.

He wasn't expecting that at all.

He sigh, he had to tell her exactly what he was feeling. It would only be then that she would really understand why he did what he did.

'Well, you already know what I saw in the pensive, so then I began walking through the corridors of Hogwarts. I was haunted by all of the memories; the explosions, the lights, the chaos… the death. I made it down to the entrance hall, and I looked into the Great Hall; I saw Fred's body, Remus's, Tonk's; all of them. I knew that I had to go to Voldemort; for them, so that they didn't die for nothing. I saw your family – Ron, Hermione, your parents, Bill, who had scares from Greyback, and George, who had just lost his twin – I did it for them'.

Ginny nodded.

'Then I made my way out onto the grounds. I saw Neville carrying some of the dead inside, and I stopped him, and told him what to do after I died, but I never told him that I was about to sacrifice myself, he would never let me go. So I continued toward the forest. Then I saw – I saw… you.

'I wanted so badly to stay there with you. To let you know I was there – but I, with terrible difficulty, kept going, realizing that if I stopped, then I wouldn't be able to keep going. For a minute, I thought I wouldn't be able to keep going, because you turned around and looked right at where I was, because you heard something'.

'That was you!' Ginny whispered.

Harry just simply nodded slowly, then continued.

'So I continued on to the forest. I got there, and realized that there was likely Death Eaters looking out for me. Then I remembered about the Snitch Dumbledore gave me, and realized that 'The Close' was Death, so I took it out, and like I said before, my parents, Sirius, and Remus appeared before.

'My mother said she was proud of me. That made me feel so good inside. I asked Sirius if it hurt to die, and he said – he said that it was quicker than falling asleep. That helped me a great deal. They walked with me towards Voldemort, and they protected me from the Dementors that were swarming around. Even once I dropped the stone, they were still with me. I got to the circle of Death Eaters, and, of course, I was still under the invisibility cloak, I took it off, and put it deep into my coat pocket. Voldemort saw me, and prepared to cast the Killing Curse.

'My last thoughts were of you. Of our first kiss. You were the only thing in my head when I 'died''.

He finished, and looked up at Ginny, as if asking why she wanted to know all that, but Ginny herself had a few very rare tears in her eyes. Harry leaned over and gave her a very loving hug, and asked,

'What does that matter, Gin?'

Ginny looked at him,

'I know that it will have to do with something, but I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I know that it has something to do with this whole wandless magic thing,' she said. 'We should ask Hermione when they get back'.

Just then, Ignis flew into the window with a letter attached to his claw, and flew over to Harry.

Harry grabbed the letter expectantly, and unfolded it, and saw Ron and Hermione's reply.

'Well we won't have to wait that long,' Harry said, 'they've found Hermione's parents, they're okay, and will be home tomorrow!'

Harry and Ginny went on to read how they found Hermione's parents.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hermione, Ron, Mr and Mrs. Granger arrived at the Burrow at noon like they said they would (Hermione just always has to be right on time) to a huge round of hugs and handshakes. Mrs. Weasley ushered them inside to a terrific lunch; after which Harry and Ginny volunteered to clean up.

Once they were done, Ginny entered the sitting room, and asked if Ron and Hermione could come outside with them for a little while. They, of course, agreed, and met Harry in the kitchen where they then all walked outside into the sunny day.

'It's so great that you've found your parents Hermione! Now almost everything is back to normal,' Ginny said.

Hermione smiled and nodded.

'What was it you wanted to talk about Ginny, Harry?' Hermione asked.

Harry looked at Ginny expectantly, as if wanting her to explain it, not him.

'Well, you know that Harry performed complex wandless magic while you were gone,' Ginny said, 'and I asked Harry about some things yesterday that went along with Bill's theory. He said that the last thing that he thought of before he 'died', was me, and our first kiss. I kind of think that that has something to do with the whole thing about him being able to do complex things, but I don't exactly know what. Do you have any ideas, Hermione?'

Hermione thought for a moment, then grinned a little.

'Well, I read, a couple of years ago, about bonds. I think, that since Harry's last thought was of you, then he came back, and you of course, have kissed again after that, that you two might be bonded in some special way. I think that Harry was able to perform that magic to save you because all of his love for you was focused, and he also used some of your magical power, and channelled all of that power into that spell. Ginny, try wandless magic for me please; just to see if my theory is right'.

Ginny frowned. Was she just supposed to be able to perform wandless magic like that? She was a pretty good witch, but she was no Dumbledore.

She then looked at a small rock on the ground near them, and said, _'Wingardium Leviousa!'_, and then the rock hovered a tiny bit above the ground for a couple of seconds, then fell back again.

Hermione grinned again.

'So,' Ginny began, 'You're saying that Harry and I have a soul-bond?'

'Oh, I wouldn't go that far, but you are bonded further than many other couples ever would be,' Hermione said.

They continued to talk about what they did in each other's absence for a while, until they began to return inside.

Hermione and Ginny entered first, but before Harry could follow in, Ron pulled him back.

'What is it, mate?' Harry asked.

'You and Ginny didn't do…_anything_, while we were gone, did you?' Ron asked.

Harry frowned a little, then he had a thought. He had the same lop-sided grin on his face as his father, and said,

'I would only dream of it'.

Ron turned very red and looked at Harry with a bit of an angry face.

Harry laughed and continued on inside, followed by a very scarlet faced Ron.

**Author's Note: I hope you've like this chapter. If you are at all confused, I will say straight up that THIS IS NOT, WILL NOT, OR EVER BE A SOUL-BONDING FANFICTION STORY! I just wanted to add that into the Harry/Ginny relationship.**

**By the way, with this chapter done, I've written 100 pages on Microsoft Word, and over 40 000 words!**

**Feedback would be great. **

**Cheers,**

**– C **


End file.
